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)
060133106872	1291	Weaverville Elementary	Public	K-8	31020 State Highway 3	Weaverville	96093	Trinity County	Trinity Alps Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 623-5533	341	18	18.9	76.0%	264 (77.4%)	5 (1.5%)	32 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (8.2%)								45.5	59.7	918	373
063375013012	1292	Telesis Academy of Science & Math	Public	K-8	2800 East Hollingworth St.	West Covina	91792	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 965-1696	645	26	24.3	84.8%	8 (1.2%)	13 (2.0%)	529 (82.0%)	78 (12.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.5%)								45.5	56.5	999	293
063738006321	1293	Nestor Language Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1455 Hollister St.	San Diego	92154	San Diego County	South Bay Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 628-0900	1,070	43	24.8	41.8%	45 (4.2%)	5 (0.5%)	1,005 (93.9%)	8 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.6%)	$6,510							45.5	60.5	887	406
063084010555	1294	Cesar E. Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	161 South Plainsburg Rd.	Planada	95365	Merced County	Planada Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 382-0768	285	17	17	93.0%	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	279 (97.9%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,927							45.5	38.8	1502	208
060142704919	1295	Ready Springs Elementary	Public	K-8	10862 Spenceville Rd.	Penn Valley	95946	Nevada County	Penn Valley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 432-1118	336	16	20.9	65.2%	234 (69.6%)	2 (0.6%)	57 (17.0%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (11.0%)	$12,204							45.4	53.7	1067	228
060702000647	1296	Calistoga Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	1608 Lake St.	Calistoga	94515	Napa County	Calistoga Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 942-6278	378	23	16.3	84.9%	35 (9.3%)	2 (0.5%)	334 (88.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	$19,477							45.4	47.3	1242	54
062394003607	1297	Woodland Elementary	Public	K-8	3394 Woodland Dr.	Mariposa	95338	Mariposa County	Mariposa County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 742-0310	444	19	22.8	69.4%	290 (65.3%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (17.8%)	3 (0.7%)	20 (4.5%)	1 (0.2%)	51 (11.5%)	$6,583							45.4	36.8	1566	269
063459005723	1298	John Muir Middle	Public	6-8	1260 Branham Ln.	San Jose	95118	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6281	741	38	19.3	52.6%	130 (17.5%)	29 (3.9%)	463 (62.5%)	81 (10.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	35 (4.7%)	$12,005							45.4	52	1108	190
060227611935	1299	KIPP Bridge Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1700 Market St.	Oakland	94607	Alameda County	KIPP Bridge Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 929-0437	487	26	18.6	92.2%	46 (9.4%)	265 (54.4%)	121 (24.8%)	9 (1.8%)	8 (1.6%)	10 (2.1%)	28 (5.7%)								45.4	45.2	1307	8
060172414234	1300	AeroSTEM Academy	Public, Charter	5-12	82 Second St.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	AeroSTEM Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 742-2531	107	7	16.2	64.5%	47 (43.9%)	2 (1.9%)	44 (41.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.5%)								45.4	41.7	1408	108

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.