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)
060185711655	1741	Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2540 East 58th St.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 277-2901	557	14	38.7	89.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	553 (99.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)								31.7	32.1	1741
061128001250	1742	John Knight Middle	Public	6-8	455 East A St.	Dixon	95620	Solano County	Dixon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 693-6350	633	28	22.6	50.1%	145 (22.9%)	15 (2.4%)	417 (65.9%)	11 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	43 (6.8%)	$5,138							31.6	25.9	2001	259
060231611478	1743	California Virtual Academy @ Sonoma	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Morland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy @ Sonoma District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	814	28	29.3	61.2%	290 (35.6%)	146 (17.9%)	244 (30.0%)	80 (9.8%)	8 (1.0%)	9 (1.1%)	37 (4.5%)								31.6	40.2	1454	289
061926014336	1744	Del Sol Academy	Public	K-8	11626 Forsythia St.	Riverside	91752	Riverside County	Jurupa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 416-1106	1,247	54	23	55.5%	133 (10.7%)	92 (7.4%)	816 (65.4%)	142 (11.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	61 (4.9%)								31.6	35.6	1613	131
060002209293	1745	Mendota Junior High	Public	7-8	1258 East Belmont Ave.	Mendota	93640	Fresno County	Mendota Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 655-4301	576	27	21.1	98.6%	8 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	567 (98.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,557							31.6	27.9	1911	166
064119003968	1746	Madison Middle	Public	6-8	4930 Lake Blvd.	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 940-0176	956	48	19.9	60.1%	248 (25.9%)	14 (1.5%)	583 (61.0%)	37 (3.9%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.0%)	63 (6.6%)	$8,097							31.5	38.7	1505	241
069113501028	1747	Vista Verde Middle	Public	6-8	25777 Krameria St.	Moreno Valley	92551	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 490-4690	880	39	22.4	80.5%	38 (4.3%)	220 (25.0%)	538 (61.1%)	47 (5.3%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.5%)	30 (3.4%)	$6,692							31.5	36.1	1588	159
062271014633	1748	Virtual Academy STEAM	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	4010 East Ramboz Dr.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(323) 673-5544	1,223	56	21.9	68.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								31.5	26.9	1962	214
060168213762	1749	MethodSchools	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	38750 Sky Canyon Dr.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	MethodSchools District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 224-0758	342	17	19.9	39.8%	152 (44.4%)	32 (9.4%)	111 (32.5%)	8 (2.3%)	5 (1.5%)	2 (0.6%)	32 (9.4%)								31.4	28.1	1897	148
060011607170	1750	Chawanakee Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	45077 Road 200	O Neals	93645	Madera County	Chawanakee Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 868-4200	206	10	21.6	51.0%	136 (66.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (21.4%)	3 (1.5%)	8 (3.9%)	1 (0.5%)	13 (6.3%)	$9,702							31.4	45.8	1289	461

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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.