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)
062223002657	1611	Lockeford Elementary	Public	K-8	19456 North Tully Rd.	Lockeford	95237	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7214	488	23	21.5	74.4%	170 (34.8%)	2 (0.4%)	267 (54.7%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	38 (7.8%)	$10,709							35.3	29.9	1822	211
062847004387	1612	Arroyo Elementary	Public	K-8	1700 East Seventh St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 985-1012	499	24	21	84.8%	16 (3.2%)	9 (1.8%)	441 (88.4%)	14 (2.8%)	7 (1.4%)	7 (1.4%)	5 (1.0%)	$9,143							35.2	34.9	1635	23
061722009856	1613	Hilmar Middle	Public	6-8	7528 North Scholar Way	Hilmar	95324	Merced County	Hilmar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 632-8847	552	26	21.3	62.1%	285 (51.6%)	1 (0.2%)	252 (45.7%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	$10,892							35.1	31.1	1782	169
060005213158	1614	Winship Middle	Public	6-8	2500 Cypress Ave.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	Eureka City Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 441-2487	409	17	23.3	60.6%	199 (48.7%)	8 (2.0%)	89 (21.8%)	42 (10.3%)	27 (6.6%)	6 (1.5%)	38 (9.3%)								35.1	26.1	1987	373
060215014259	1615	Method Schools LA	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	38750 Sky Canyon Dr. Ste. B	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Method Schools LA District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 461-4620	205	17	12.1	55.6%	75 (36.6%)	24 (11.7%)	89 (43.4%)	8 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	7 (3.4%)								35.1	16.9	2433	818
062430003651	1616	McKinleyville Middle	Public	6-8	2285 Central Ave.	McKinleyville	95519	Humboldt County	McKinleyville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 839-1508	338	16	21.3	54.4%	207 (61.2%)	2 (0.6%)	51 (15.1%)	6 (1.8%)	23 (6.8%)	2 (0.6%)	46 (13.6%)	$11,217							35.1	50.5	1151	465
064212006889	1617	Del Sur Senior Elementary	Public	K-8	9023 West Ave. H	Lancaster	93536	Los Angeles County	Westside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 942-0488	758	29	26.4	56.1%	226 (29.8%)	67 (8.8%)	420 (55.4%)	9 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	34 (4.5%)	$9,579							35.1	42.3	1394	223
060214713935	1618	Empowering Possibilities International Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2945 Ramco St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Empowering Possibilities International Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-5130	406	21	19.1	72.7%	354 (87.2%)	3 (0.7%)	25 (6.2%)	7 (1.7%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.4%)								35.1	46	1286	332
060141406030	1619	Santa Barbara Junior High	Public	7-8	721 East Cota St.	Santa Barbara	93103	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 963-7751	502	33	15.1	78.5%	63 (12.5%)	3 (0.6%)	410 (81.7%)	6 (1.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.4%)	$11,844							35.1	29.5	1840	221
061674002105	1620	Bret Harte Middle	Public	7-8	1047 E St.	Hayward	94540	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3100	493	25	19.8	72.0%	27 (5.5%)	86 (17.4%)	286 (58.0%)	47 (9.5%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.9%)	27 (5.5%)								35	28	1905	285

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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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.