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)
062271014102	1081	Maywood Center for Enriched Studies	Public	6-12	5800 King Ave.	Maywood	90270	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 210-1412	1,128	57	19.6	83.2%	61 (5.4%)	4 (0.4%)	1,054 (93.4%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.5%)	$9,148							52.7	44.2	1339	258
061488000753	1082	Izaak Walton Intermediate	Public	7-8	12181 Buaro St.	Garden Grove	92840	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6040	509	22	23	90.6%	22 (4.3%)	6 (1.2%)	369 (72.5%)	101 (19.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	8 (1.6%)	$12,047							52.7	59.9	908	174
060218613088	1083	Citizens of the World Charter School Mar Vista	Public, Charter	K-8	11561 Gateway Blvd.	Los Angeles	90064	Los Angeles County	Citizens of the World Charter School Mar Vista District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(424) 248-0544	498	25	20.2	59.2%	115 (23.1%)	73 (14.7%)	244 (49.0%)	23 (4.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (8.2%)								52.7	63	820	263
063207007274	1084	Clement Middle	Public	6-8	501 East Pennsylvania Ave.	Redlands	92374	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-5400	973	55	17.5	71.0%	166 (17.1%)	63 (6.5%)	615 (63.2%)	80 (8.2%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	43 (4.4%)	$7,022							52.6	51.4	1122	38
060720007427	1085	Sherman Oaks Elementary	Public, Charter	K-8	1800 Fruitdale Ave.	San Jose	95128	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 795-1140	529	23	23	64.7%	36 (6.8%)	5 (0.9%)	476 (90.0%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.5%)								52.6	46.3	1279	194
060002710588	1086	Canyon Lake Middle	Public	6-8	33005 Canyon Hills Rd.	Lake Elsinore	92532	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7790	970	40	24.2	51.4%	346 (35.7%)	63 (6.5%)	450 (46.4%)	43 (4.4%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	65 (6.7%)	$6,786							52.5	48.4	1214	128
064071006717	1087	Vallecitos Elementary	Public	K-8	5211 Fifth St.	Fallbrook	92028	San Diego County	Vallecitos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 728-7092	190	10	19	84.7%	22 (11.6%)	1 (0.5%)	164 (86.3%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,755							52.5	47.1	1251	164
063610006171	1088	Stanwood A. Murphy Elementary	Public	K-8	417 Church St.	Scotia	95565	Humboldt County	Scotia Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 764-2212	192	10	19.1	76.0%	129 (67.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (13.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (17.7%)	$11,204							52.5	55	1031	57
060178011827	1089	Gold Rush Home Study Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16331 Hidden Valley Rd.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Gold Rush Home Study Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-9781	451	21	21.4	48.1%	338 (74.9%)	5 (1.1%)	68 (15.1%)	3 (0.7%)	6 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.7%)								52.4	46.8	1262	173
062994004679	1090	Marshall Fundamental	Public	6-12	990 North Allen Ave.	Pasadena	91104	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5810	1,848	80	22.9	76.1%	374 (20.2%)	124 (6.7%)	1,159 (62.7%)	119 (6.4%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.3%)	61 (3.3%)	$6,849							52.4	53.5	1070	20

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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

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.