Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2777)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
063261005071	2091	Mary P. Henck Intermediate	Public	6-8	730 Rhine Rd.	Lake Arrowhead	92352	San Bernardino County	Rim of the World Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 336-0360	582	27	21.2	65.6%	286 (49.1%)	3 (0.5%)	264 (45.4%)	4 (0.7%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.1%)	$8,131							23.8	24.8	2061	30
062922011374	2092	Thurgood Marshall Elementary	Public	K-8	2900 Thurgood Marshall Dr.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1557	691	37	18.5	74.5%	57 (8.2%)	26 (3.8%)	573 (82.9%)	24 (3.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.3%)	$4,180							23.8	22.6	2157	65
062949004554	2093	Alianza Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	115 Casserly Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6333	648	29	22.3	79.2%	15 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	629 (97.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)								23.8	31.3	1772	321
063398012977	2094	El Puente	Public	7-12	20 Sherwood Pl.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7700	349	19	18	94.6%	15 (4.3%)	1 (0.3%)	326 (93.4%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$19,257							23.8	47.1	1252	842
062271011644	2095	George De La Torre Junior Elementary	Public	K-8	500 North Island Ave.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 847-1400	621	33	19	97.7%	17 (2.7%)	13 (2.1%)	586 (94.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	$10,826							23.8	18.2	2367	272
061734002181	2096	Rancho San Justo	Public	6-8	1201 Rancho Dr.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4450	589	28	21.2	64.7%	62 (10.5%)	9 (1.5%)	469 (79.6%)	14 (2.4%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	29 (4.9%)	$6,189							23.7	27.3	1942	154
063398008745	2097	La Paz Middle	Public	7-8	1300 North Sanborn Rd.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7900	1,160	57	20.3	97.5%	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	1,148 (99.0%)	6 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$9,471							23.7	24.2	2087	10
063276011957	2098	Rio Vista Middle	Public	6-8	3050 Thames River Dr.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 981-1507	671	31	21.6	58.7%	51 (7.6%)	14 (2.1%)	550 (82.0%)	38 (5.7%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.8%)	$6,534							23.6	25.3	2034	64
062949010413	2099	Watsonville Charter School of the Arts	Public, Charter	K-8	115 Casserly Rd. West Campus	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-8123	408	19	21.2	58.6%	102 (25.0%)	1 (0.2%)	287 (70.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.4%)								23.5	43.9	1346	753
063864006491	2100	Southwest Middle	Public	7-8	2710 Iris St.	San Diego	92154	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 628-4000	483	24	19.7	72.3%	16 (3.3%)	7 (1.4%)	444 (91.9%)	10 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.2%)	$9,453							23.5	17.5	2406	306

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.