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)
060133205096	2271	Frederick Joyce Elementary	Public	K-8	6050 Watt Ave.	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1880	513	23	22.3	91.2%	91 (17.7%)	67 (13.1%)	175 (34.1%)	105 (20.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.4%)	68 (13.3%)								19.6	14.8	2520	249
060155812150	2272	Norton Science and Language Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-11	230 S Waterman Ave	San Bernardino	92408	San Bernardino County	Norton Science and Language Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 386-2300	1,200	54	22	76.9%	29 (2.4%)	41 (3.4%)	1,109 (92.4%)	9 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (0.9%)								19.6	18.7	2347	75
061111012396	2273	Desert Ridge Academy	Public	6-8	79-767 Avenue 39	Indio	92203	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 393-5500	1,018	45	22.8	81.4%	80 (7.9%)	17 (1.7%)	861 (84.6%)	11 (1.1%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	43 (4.2%)	$7,283							19.6	23.5	2126	147
063462005824	2274	Sylvan Middle	Public	6-8	7085 Auburn Blvd.	Citrus Heights	95621	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7873	627	29	21.8	58.1%	278 (44.3%)	36 (5.7%)	229 (36.5%)	27 (4.3%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.8%)	46 (7.3%)	$7,368							19.5	26.4	1978	296
061839002264	2275	Woodworth-Monroe Tk-8 Academy	Public	K-8	10711 10th Ave.	Inglewood	90303	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5310	611	26	23.5	89.4%	3 (0.5%)	210 (34.4%)	372 (60.9%)	5 (0.8%)	6 (1.0%)	6 (1.0%)	9 (1.5%)								19.5	15.8	2472	197
062805004312	2276	Roosevelt Middle	Public	6-8	1926 19th Ave.	Oakland	94606	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3212	551	33	16.4	97.6%	16 (2.9%)	111 (20.1%)	223 (40.5%)	166 (30.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	28 (5.1%)	$7,310							19.5	27.9	1908	368
062271003324	2277	San Fernando Middle	Public	6-8	130 North Brand Blvd.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-5400	534	33	16	94.2%	10 (1.9%)	7 (1.3%)	507 (94.9%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$11,716							19.3	19.8	2286	9
061392009544	2278	Almeria Middle	Public	6-8	7723 Almeria Ave.	Fontana	92336	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5350	754	37	20.2	75.1%	26 (3.4%)	57 (7.6%)	634 (84.1%)	21 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	12 (1.6%)								19.3	16.4	2451	173
061944002333	2279	Antelope Elementary	Public	K-8	37237 North 100th St. East	Littlerock	93543	Los Angeles County	Keppel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 944-2148	272	11	24.7	66.5%	12 (4.4%)	6 (2.2%)	248 (91.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)								19.3	14.5	2531	252
062274013964	2280	Creekside Junior High	Public	7-8	1401 Prairie Springs Dr.	Los Banos	93635	Merced County	Los Banos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 826-1005	823	39	20.9	69.6%	89 (10.8%)	9 (1.1%)	701 (85.2%)	10 (1.2%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.4%)	9 (1.1%)	$9,606							19.3	21.5	2199	81

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.