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)
063525008475	1021	Sanger Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2207 Ninth St.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6840	619	29	21.2	68.3%	28 (4.5%)	3 (0.5%)	559 (90.3%)	22 (3.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.8%)	$8,702							54.7	61.8	855	166
060251314419	1022	Mission Vista Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1440 Beaumont Ave	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Mission Vista Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 456-1981	5,686	178	31.9	43.9%	2,442 (42.9%)	181 (3.2%)	2,424 (42.6%)	146 (2.6%)	17 (0.3%)	28 (0.5%)	445 (7.8%)								54.6	49.5	1182	160
060306000241	1023	Arcohe Elementary	Public	K-8	11755 Ivie Rd.	Herald	95638	Sacramento County	Arcohe Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 748-2313	501	23	21.8	30.5%	231 (46.1%)	4 (0.8%)	204 (40.7%)	13 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (9.6%)	$10,753							54.6	50.8	1139	116
060147711630	1024	New Heights Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2202 West Martin Luther King J	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	New Heights Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 508-0155	406	20	20.3	91.4%	2 (0.5%)	95 (23.4%)	305 (75.1%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								54.6	53	1083	59
060756000726	1025	Carpinteria Middle	Public	6-8	5351 Carpinteria Ave.	Carpinteria	93013	Santa Barbara County	Carpinteria Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 684-4544	402	28	14.5	77.4%	69 (17.2%)	3 (0.7%)	313 (77.9%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.7%)	$7,363							54.6	47.5	1239	214
060006204236	1026	Oakdale Junior High	Public	7-8	400 Maag Ave.	Oakdale	95361	Stanislaus County	Oakdale Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 847-2294	800	35	22.7	40.3%	415 (51.9%)	8 (1.0%)	331 (41.4%)	17 (2.1%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	25 (3.1%)	$6,430							54.5	46.8	1259	233
060639014239	1027	Dolores S. Whitley Tk-8	Public	K-8	2923 McKee Rd.	Bakersfield	93313	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 885-6600	1,092	48	22.6	86.4%	67 (6.1%)	52 (4.8%)	765 (70.1%)	168 (15.4%)	5 (0.5%)	5 (0.5%)	30 (2.7%)								54.5	60.8	882	145
062271003200	1028	Mt. Gleason Middle	Public	6-8	10965 Mt. Gleason Ave.	Sunland	91040	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 951-2580	748	38	19.4	83.0%	289 (38.6%)	9 (1.2%)	406 (54.3%)	24 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.4%)	$11,406							54.4	41.1	1423	395
062454009402	1029	Menifee Valley Middle	Public	6-8	26255 Garbani Rd.	Menifee	92584	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 672-6400	919	42	22	64.3%	209 (22.7%)	63 (6.9%)	474 (51.6%)	48 (5.2%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.8%)	114 (12.4%)	$9,197							54.4	56.4	1000	29
062133002556	1030	Vista La Mesa Academy	Public	K-8	3900 Violet St.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	Lemon Grove	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 825-5645	531	22	24	71.4%	59 (11.1%)	85 (16.0%)	314 (59.1%)	44 (8.3%)	4 (0.8%)	4 (0.8%)	21 (4.0%)								54.4	44.6	1321	291

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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