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)
062361001374	2321	August Knodt Elementary	Public	K-8	3939 EWS Woods Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6200	668	31	21.7	72.8%	43 (6.4%)	90 (13.5%)	388 (58.1%)	105 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.6%)	31 (4.6%)	$4,712							18.3	22.4	2162	159
061176001298	2322	Earlimart Middle	Public	6-8	599 South Sutter St.	Earlimart	93219	Tulare County	Earlimart Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 849-2611	487	28	17.7	95.3%	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	474 (97.3%)	8 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$10,448							18.3	19.2	2315	7
060570007636	2323	Borrego Springs Middle	Public	6-8	2255 Diegueno Rd.	Borrego Springs	92004	San Diego County	Borrego Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 767-5335	78	6	13.6	87.2%	5 (6.4%)	1 (1.3%)	69 (88.5%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.6%)	$17,291							18.3	18.9	2334	11
063987006611	2324	Cherry Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	540 North Cherry St.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 685-7320	456	22	20.8	79.8%	45 (9.9%)	17 (3.7%)	380 (83.3%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.5%)	$11,205							18.3	17	2427	103
062271012896	2325	Dr. Julian Nava Learning Academy	Public	6-8	1420 East Adams Blvd.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 846-2200	597	33	18.1	98.0%	4 (0.7%)	24 (4.0%)	567 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$8,439							18.2	21.7	2195	130
062271002829	2326	Audubon Middle	Public	6-8	4120 11th Ave.	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 290-6300	436	37	11.8	88.5%	8 (1.8%)	235 (53.9%)	172 (39.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.9%)	$19,039							18.2	8.2	2742	416
061944002332	2327	Alpine Elementary	Public	K-8	8244 East Pearblossom Hwy.	Littlerock	93543	Los Angeles County	Keppel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 944-3221	499	20	24.9	85.6%	33 (6.6%)	10 (2.0%)	452 (90.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)								18.2	11.5	2647	320
062241011344	2328	Mission Valley	Public	K-8	320 North J St.	Lompoc	93436	Santa Barbara County	Lompoc Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 742-2940	55	4	13.5	85.5%	14 (25.5%)	1 (1.8%)	35 (63.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (9.1%)	$5,455							18.2	20	2273	55
062922004507	2329	Cesar E. Chavez Elementary	Public	K-8	301 North Marquita St.	Oxnard	93030	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1524	777	38	20.5	96.7%	9 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	764 (98.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$3,922							18.2	14.8	2516	187
060256611863	2330	Riverside Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	19121 Third St.	Oro Grande	92368	San Bernardino County	Riverside Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 243-5884	2,401	114	21	80.1%	359 (15.0%)	413 (17.2%)	1,480 (61.6%)	35 (1.5%)	26 (1.1%)	20 (0.8%)	67 (2.8%)								18.1	20.6	2240	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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.