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)
060152711385	1471	Iftin Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	5465 El Cajon Blvd.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	Iftin Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 265-2411	468	11	42.5	81.6%	15 (3.2%)	397 (84.8%)	35 (7.5%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.0%)								39.7	34.1	1662	191
060217610851	1472	Alliance Gertz-Ressler Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex	Public, Charter	6-12	2023 South Union Ave.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Alliance Gertz-Ressler Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 745-8141	1,003	45	22.2	94.7%	0 (0.0%)	9 (0.9%)	988 (98.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.5%)								39.6	42.2	1399	73
061071001188	1473	Dehesa Elementary	Public	K-8	4612 Dehesa Rd.	El Cajon	92019	San Diego County	Dehesa Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 444-2161	221	22	10	24.4%	66 (29.9%)	4 (1.8%)	84 (38.0%)	7 (3.2%)	11 (5.0%)	1 (0.5%)	48 (21.7%)								39.6			(n/a)
062985007134	1474	Frank J. Zamboni	Public	6-8	15733 South Orange Ave.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8048	717	42	17.1	96.5%	0 (0.0%)	29 (4.0%)	679 (94.7%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	$4,142							39.6	32.3	1732	258
060164711849	1475	Impact Academy of Arts & Technology	Public, Charter	6-12	2560 Darwin St.	Hayward	94545	Alameda County	Impact Academy of Arts & Technology District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 300-1560	760	31	24.4	59.7%	29 (3.8%)	29 (3.8%)	491 (64.6%)	133 (17.5%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (4.6%)	42 (5.5%)								39.6	48.2	1219	256
063846006464	1476	Columbia Middle	Public	6-8	739 Morse Ave.	Sunnyvale	94085	Santa Clara County	Sunnyvale	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 522-8247	672	37	18.2	40.3%	84 (12.5%)	10 (1.5%)	378 (56.3%)	130 (19.3%)	21 (3.1%)	10 (1.5%)	38 (5.7%)	$14,325							39.5	39.1	1494	18
060429014572	1477	Summerwind Trails	Public	K-8	1020 Poinsettia Cir.	Calimesa	92320	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 845-1631	1,078	45	23.8	55.4%	285 (26.4%)	89 (8.3%)	564 (52.3%)	76 (7.1%)	6 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	57 (5.3%)								39.5	52.1	1105	372
061776002196	1478	Howell Mountain Elementary	Public	K-8	525 White Cottage Rd. North	Angwin	94508	Napa County	Howell Mountain Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 965-2423	93	7	13.2	66.7%	32 (34.4%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (59.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	4 (4.3%)	$18,083							39.5	39.8	1467	11
060985001055	1479	Home Gardens Academy	Public	K-8	13550 Tolton Ave.	Corona	92879	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 736-3219	969	43	22.4	88.1%	30 (3.1%)	11 (1.1%)	900 (92.9%)	11 (1.1%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.1%)	$6,616							39.5	44.9	1316	163
060524000495	1480	Golden Sierra Junior Senior High	Public	7-12	5101 Garden Valley Rd.	Garden Valley	95633	El Dorado County	Black Oak Mine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 333-8330	475	27	17.6	40.8%	366 (77.1%)	1 (0.2%)	65 (13.7%)	8 (1.7%)	13 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.6%)	$11,238							39.5	42.4	1390	90

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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