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)
063855006471	1671	Diamond View Middle	Public	6-8	850 Richmond Rd.	Susanville	96130	Lassen County	Susanville Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 257-5144	296	12	24.7	64.9%	157 (53.0%)	4 (1.4%)	72 (24.3%)	9 (3.0%)	18 (6.1%)	10 (3.4%)	26 (8.8%)	$6,954							33.9	33.3	1691	20
060216612865	1672	Sunrise Middle	Public, Charter	5-8	1149 East Julian St.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Sunrise Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 659-4785	312	12	24.9	87.2%	7 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	286 (91.7%)	15 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)								33.9	37.3	1550	122
063680006238	1673	Murray Middle	Public	6-8	200 East Drummond Ave.	Ridgecrest	93555	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1820	686	30	22.6	51.0%	338 (49.3%)	38 (5.5%)	224 (32.7%)	31 (4.5%)	8 (1.2%)	6 (0.9%)	41 (6.0%)								33.8	29.5	1836	163
063315005134	1674	Central Middle	Public	7-8	4795 Magnolia Ave.	Riverside	92506	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7282	606	27	22.6	50.7%	76 (12.5%)	36 (5.9%)	469 (77.4%)	11 (1.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.0%)	$10,199							33.8	32	1745	71
060170610524	1675	Magnolia Science Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	18238 Sherman Way	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 609-0507	714	35	20.4	88.9%	30 (4.2%)	5 (0.7%)	641 (89.8%)	34 (4.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)								33.8	26	1999	324
063140010958	1676	Potter Valley Junior High	Public	7-8	10401 Main St.	Potter Valley	95469	Mendocino County	Potter Valley Community Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 743-1142	43	3	16.1	55.8%	24 (55.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (34.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (7.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.3%)								33.7	33.5	1685	9
060690011595	1677	Enrique Camarena Junior High	Public	7-8	800 East Rivera Ave.	Calexico	92231	Imperial County	Calexico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 768-3808	684	30	22.7	85.4%	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	678 (99.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)								33.7	35.7	1607	70
060173203245	1678	Accelerated	Public, Charter	K-8	4000 South Main St.	Los Angeles	90037	Los Angeles County	Accelerated District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 235-6343	745	37	20.1	98.4%	7 (0.9%)	3 (0.4%)	735 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								33.6	30.4	1803	125
060813004129	1679	Blaker-Kinser Junior High	Public	7-8	1601 Kinser Rd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1810	637	29	22.2	85.4%	41 (6.4%)	9 (1.4%)	551 (86.5%)	31 (4.9%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	$9,475							33.6	27.9	1910	231
063311005126	1680	Riverview Middle	Public	7-8	525 South Second St.	Rio Vista	94571	Solano County	River Delta Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 374-2345	163	8	20.2	79.1%	62 (38.0%)	4 (2.5%)	70 (42.9%)	4 (2.5%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	21 (12.9%)	$8,145							33.6	21.7	2192	512

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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