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)
069102010960	2061	Merced Scholars Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1850 Wardrobe Ave. Bldg. H	Merced	95341	Merced County	Merced County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 381-5165	297	18	16.4	88.6%	34 (11.4%)	7 (2.4%)	236 (79.5%)	12 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.7%)	$9,544							24.3	28.1	1896	165
063801006427	2062	Nightingale Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1721 Carpenter Rd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7260	427	18	23.9	81.3%	9 (2.1%)	30 (7.0%)	353 (82.7%)	26 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.9%)	$10,950							24.3	19.4	2303	241
063697005084	2063	Quail Valley Middle	Public	6-8	10058 Arrowhead Rd.	Phelan	92371	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 868-2623	866	42	20.4	76.4%	126 (14.5%)	81 (9.4%)	572 (66.1%)	8 (0.9%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.8%)	69 (8.0%)	$7,877							24.3	26.9	1961	102
062271002853	2064	Berendo Middle	Public	6-8	1157 South Berendo St.	Los Angeles	90006	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 739-5600	590	39	15.2	95.4%	10 (1.7%)	15 (2.5%)	557 (94.4%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$11,464							24.3	20.5	2244	180
060239713684	2065	New Horizons Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	5955 Lankershim Blvd.	North Hollywood	91601	Los Angeles County	New Horizons Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 655-9602	195	9	21.6	84.6%	41 (21.0%)	9 (4.6%)	117 (60.0%)	13 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.7%)								24.2	28.4	1878	187
064140006847	2066	Thomas Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	305 Griffith Ave.	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Wasco Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 758-7140	589	29	19.9	94.2%	13 (2.2%)	6 (1.0%)	566 (96.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$7,207							24.2	23.9	2110	44
064074006736	2067	Hogan Middle	Public	6-8	850 Rosewood Ave.	Vallejo	94591	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-3510	849	38	22.4	85.3%	50 (5.9%)	209 (24.6%)	376 (44.3%)	166 (19.6%)	4 (0.5%)	23 (2.7%)	21 (2.5%)								24.2	20.4	2245	178
060245313403	2068	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 12	Public, Charter	6-8	131 East 50th St.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 12 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 238-7270	495	22	22.9	92.7%	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.0%)	480 (97.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)								24.2	20.6	2235	167
060360000273	2069	Gladstone Middle	Public	6-8	1340 North Enid	Covina	91722	Los Angeles County	Azusa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 815-3600	1,420	59	24.1	90.4%	45 (3.2%)	10 (0.7%)	1,287 (90.6%)	42 (3.0%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	32 (2.3%)	$6,053							24.2			(n/a)
062553003341	2070	Seaside Middle	Public	7-8	999 Coe Ave.	Seaside	93955	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 899-7080	532	28	18.7	83.1%	44 (8.3%)	29 (5.5%)	419 (78.8%)	23 (4.3%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.1%)	9 (1.7%)	$5,147							24.2	30.1	1816	254

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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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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