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)
062271003395	881	Thirty-Second Street USC Performing Arts	Public, Alternative	K-12	822 West 32nd St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 748-0126	878	46	19.1	87.5%	56 (6.4%)	58 (6.6%)	713 (81.2%)	25 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	23 (2.6%)	$9,843							60	54.5	1044	163
060962000972	882	Bursch Elementary	Public	K-8	2505 West 156th St.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6130	352	15	23.4	90.3%	0 (0.0%)	66 (18.8%)	285 (81.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								60	46.8	1260	378
061089007504	883	Almond Tree Middle	Public	6-8	200 West 15th Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-3641	526	29	18.1	92.2%	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	470 (89.4%)	50 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$7,762							59.9	56.9	987	104
060198614071	884	John Adams Academy - Lincoln	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1797 Bella Breeze Dr.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	John Adams Academy - Lincoln District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 209-5540	1,420	60	23.7	20.6%	894 (63.0%)	14 (1.0%)	323 (22.7%)	76 (5.4%)	2 (0.1%)	10 (0.7%)	101 (7.1%)								59.9	60.9	877	7
060591004444	885	William B. Bristow Middle	Public	6-8	855 Minnesota Ave.	Brentwood	94513	Contra Costa County	Brentwood Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 513-6460	1,236	53	23.5	18.7%	434 (35.1%)	79 (6.4%)	410 (33.2%)	159 (12.9%)	5 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	144 (11.7%)	$5,427							59.9	58.1	962	77
063771007565	886	Buena Vista Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Tara Dr.	Salinas	93908	Monterey County	Spreckels Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 455-8936	333	18	18.7	16.2%	122 (36.6%)	0 (0.0%)	172 (51.7%)	16 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (6.9%)	$7,991							59.9	66.1	762	124
060133205105	887	Pioneer Elementary	Public	K-8	5816 Pioneer Way	Sacramento	95841	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1940	643	26	24.8	86.9%	186 (28.9%)	60 (9.3%)	225 (35.0%)	71 (11.0%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (2.6%)	83 (12.9%)								59.8	63.8	797	90
061479011211	888	Robert L. McCaffrey Middle	Public	7-8	997 Park Terrace Dr.	Galt	95632	Sacramento County	Galt Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 745-5462	771	37	21	60.7%	237 (30.7%)	13 (1.7%)	453 (58.8%)	33 (4.3%)	4 (0.5%)	7 (0.9%)	23 (3.0%)	$11,910							59.8	60.7	883	5
060205713790	889	STREAM Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	455E Oro Dam Blvd. East	Oroville	95965	Butte County	STREAM Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 534-1633	481	22	22.3	53.4%	281 (58.4%)	2 (0.4%)	64 (13.3%)	55 (11.4%)	13 (2.7%)	3 (0.6%)	63 (13.1%)								59.8	66.4	754	135
061970010781	890	Thomas Law Reed Elementary	Public	K-8	1400 North Frankwood Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7300	540	23	23.1	82.4%	35 (6.5%)	2 (0.4%)	474 (87.8%)	9 (1.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.3%)	$6,807							59.8	68.6	705	185

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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

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.