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)
063432008964	301	De Portola Middle	Public	6-8	11010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.	San Diego	92124	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-8080	659	31	21.3	47.0%	217 (32.9%)	36 (5.5%)	231 (35.1%)	76 (11.5%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.9%)	91 (13.8%)	$7,404							88.7	84.4	387	86
060208008542	302	Journey	Public, Charter	K-8	27102 Foxborough	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Journey District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 448-7232	591	24	24.6	21.7%	301 (50.9%)	8 (1.4%)	122 (20.6%)	50 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	110 (18.6%)								88.7	77.1	549	247
069102513072	303	Placer County Pathways Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	360 Nevada St.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Placer County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 745-1440	295	20	15	53.2%	180 (61.0%)	2 (0.7%)	76 (25.8%)	4 (1.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.8%)	$14,051							88.7	74.1	599	296
062271008887	304	Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies	Public	6-12	5931 West 18th St.	Los Angeles	90035	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 549-5900	1,387	67	20.7	54.0%	377 (27.2%)	228 (16.4%)	471 (34.0%)	213 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	97 (7.0%)	$9,130							88.6	83.4	404	100
063543007867	305	Marian A. Peterson Middle	Public	6-8	1380 Rosalia Ave.	Sunnyvale	94087	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-2800	741	34	21.6	22.5%	140 (18.9%)	10 (1.3%)	202 (27.3%)	340 (45.9%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (5.7%)	$9,473							88.6	91.3	254	51
060253514484	306	Orange County Classical Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4100 East Walnut Ave.	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange County Classical Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(657) 223-9420	568	24	23.5	17.1%	257 (45.2%)	9 (1.6%)	102 (18.0%)	178 (31.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	18 (3.2%)								88.6	82.9	415	109
060651000587	307	Burnt Ranch Elementary	Public	K-8	251 Burnt Ranch School Rd.	Burnt Ranch	95527	Trinity County	Burnt Ranch Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 629-2543	85	5	17	77.6%	45 (52.9%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (16.5%)	2 (2.4%)	10 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (16.5%)	$5,599							88.5	74.3	597	290
061488001853	308	Donald S. Jordan Intermediate	Public	7-8	9821 Woodbury Rd.	Garden Grove	92844	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6124	588	23	25.3	86.6%	24 (4.1%)	4 (0.7%)	215 (36.6%)	335 (57.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	7 (1.2%)	$11,992							88.4	89.9	281	27
062118008151	309	Miller's Hill	Public	4-8	7900 South Shingle Rd.	Shingle Springs	95682	El Dorado County	Latrobe	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 677-0260	104	5	19.2	32.7%	81 (77.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (11.5%)	2 (1.9%)	2 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.7%)	$15,065							88.4	88.6	314	5
061437013199	310	College Connection Academy	Public	7-8	1855 Lucretia Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-4827	202	11	17.8	37.6%	6 (3.0%)	1 (0.5%)	62 (30.7%)	127 (62.9%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	4 (2.0%)								88.3	89.7	283	27

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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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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