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)
063588006139	511	Carlton Oaks Elementary	Public	K-8	9353 Wethersfield Rd.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 956-4500	877	39	22.4	24.5%	451 (51.4%)	7 (0.8%)	260 (29.6%)	45 (5.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	109 (12.4%)	$9,843							78.6	82.6	423	88
060210413059	512	Escalon Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1520 Yosemite Ave.	Escalon	95320	San Joaquin County	Escalon Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 838-3591	338	16	21.5	26.0%	212 (62.7%)	3 (0.9%)	105 (31.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	16 (4.7%)								78.6	63	819	307
064023008651	513	Orchard View	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	700 Watertrough Rd.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Twin Hills Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(707) 823-4709	228	14	16.5	23.7%	149 (65.4%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (21.5%)	5 (2.2%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (7.0%)	$7,281							78.6	79.6	496	17
061185001314	514	Granada Middle	Public	6-8	15337 Lemon Dr.	Whittier	90604	Los Angeles County	East Whittier City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 464-2330	1,066	50	21.3	43.7%	127 (11.9%)	12 (1.1%)	848 (79.5%)	39 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (3.7%)								78.6	81.8	442	72
060151213958	515	Sutter Peak Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3934 Broadway Rd.	Live Oak	95953	Sutter County	Sutter Peak Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 468-4044	642	23	27.9	49.1%	406 (63.2%)	17 (2.6%)	130 (20.2%)	52 (8.1%)	9 (1.4%)	3 (0.5%)	25 (3.9%)								78.6	72.4	631	116
060750000715	516	Valley Middle	Public	6-8	1645 Magnolia Ave.	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5300	788	39	20	24.4%	437 (55.5%)	8 (1.0%)	243 (30.8%)	23 (2.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	71 (9.0%)	$7,318							78.4	86.5	348	168
060162212388	517	High Technical Middle North County	Public, Charter	6-8	1460 West San Marcos Blvd.	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	High Technical Middle North County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 759-2750	332	17	19.5	51.2%	107 (32.2%)	5 (1.5%)	173 (52.1%)	16 (4.8%)	2 (0.6%)	3 (0.9%)	26 (7.8%)								78.4	71.6	650	133
063315012406	518	Frank Augustus Miller Middle	Public	7-8	17925 Krameria Ave.	Riverside	92504	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 789-8181	844	33	25.6	26.2%	284 (33.6%)	48 (5.7%)	374 (44.3%)	98 (11.6%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (4.4%)	$7,824							78.4	77.4	540	22
060744011903	519	Capistrano Home/Virtual	Public, Virtual	K-8	32972 Calle Perfecto	San Juan Capistrano	92675	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 234-9374	91	6	15.2	37.4%	59 (64.8%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (18.7%)	5 (5.5%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (8.8%)	$10,218							78.2	95.5	136	383
062751004138	520	North Cow Creek Elementary	Public	K-8	10619 Swede Creek Rd.	Palo Cedro	96073	Shasta County	North Cow Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 549-4488	256	12	21.8	21.1%	195 (76.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.4%)	2 (0.8%)	12 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.9%)	$9,014							78.2	69.3	693	173

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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