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)
061812002237	731	Hydesville Elementary	Public	K-8	3050 Johnson Rd.	Hydesville	95547	Humboldt County	Hydesville Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 768-3610	224	9	24.8	50.9%	174 (77.7%)	2 (0.9%)	30 (13.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.3%)	$9,693							67.3	78.4	525	206
062211002628	732	Joe Michell	Public	K-8	1001 Elaine Ave.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4738	775	37	20.8	18.6%	333 (43.0%)	8 (1.0%)	225 (29.0%)	127 (16.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	77 (9.9%)	$7,740							67.2	79.3	509	223
063942006566	733	Philip Magruder Middle	Public	6-8	4100 West 185th St.	Torrance	90504	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4527	610	27	22.7	53.9%	73 (12.0%)	48 (7.9%)	315 (51.6%)	126 (20.7%)	3 (0.5%)	7 (1.1%)	38 (6.2%)	$5,575							67.2	72.6	625	108
060159214346	734	JCS - Pine Hills	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	29141 Vallejo Ave.	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	JCS - Pine Hills District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 765-5500	755	37	20.5	39.1%	355 (47.0%)	26 (3.4%)	243 (32.2%)	22 (2.9%)	12 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	93 (12.3%)								67.2	66.5	751	17
060962000996	735	Tibby Elementary	Public	K-8	1400 West Poplar St.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6370	586	23	25	92.3%	2 (0.3%)	167 (28.5%)	403 (68.8%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	6 (1.0%)								67.2	44.5	1324	589
063441005645	736	Marina Middle	Public	6-8	3500 Fillmore St.	San Francisco	94123	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 749-3495	654	29	22.2	72.2%	48 (7.3%)	37 (5.7%)	113 (17.3%)	401 (61.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (8.4%)	$6,103							67.2	67.6	729	7
060015310945	737	William Northrup Elementary	Public	K-8	409 South Atlantic Blvd.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-6620	766	38	20.1	62.5%	14 (1.8%)	6 (0.8%)	264 (34.5%)	442 (57.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (5.1%)	$11,862							67.1	66.8	746	9
060837000812	738	Bidwell Junior High	Public	6-8	2376 North Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3080	1,010	39	25.6	57.9%	571 (56.5%)	12 (1.2%)	267 (26.4%)	52 (5.1%)	10 (1.0%)	7 (0.7%)	89 (8.8%)	$10,802							67	71	667	71
060964012664	739	Century Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	33 Greta St.	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 496-0286	230	19	12.2	26.1%	145 (63.0%)	4 (1.7%)	54 (23.5%)	11 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (6.1%)	$10,296							67	77.8	533	206
064059014012	740	Sierra Vista K-8	Public	K-8	301 Bel Air Dr.	Vacaville	95687	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-6260	603	28	21.5	43.6%	255 (42.3%)	30 (5.0%)	209 (34.7%)	39 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	67 (11.1%)	$9,079							67	62.4	833	93

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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