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)
069106308694	2671	Castle Rock	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1260 Glenn St.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0390	337	16	21.2	65.9%	186 (55.2%)	1 (0.3%)	74 (22.0%)	6 (1.8%)	31 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (11.0%)								9.6	19	2330	341
063213004972	2672	Roosevelt Elementary	Public	K-8	2223 Vera Ave.	Redwood City	94061	San Mateo County	Redwood City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 482-2413	453	22	20.1	69.1%	69 (15.2%)	2 (0.4%)	344 (75.9%)	14 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.3%)	18 (4.0%)								9.6	26.8	1965	707
064281009208	2673	Challenger Middle	Public	5-8	41725 North 170th St. East	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Wilsona Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 264-1790	553	23	24.2	96.2%	58 (10.5%)	39 (7.1%)	442 (79.9%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	$6,925							9.6	10.5	2690	17
063801006398	2674	Adams Elementary	Public	K-8	6402 Inglewood Ave.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7155	512	21	24.6	83.4%	28 (5.5%)	104 (20.3%)	273 (53.3%)	77 (15.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.5%)	$8,438							9.5	10.4	2697	23
060153313917	2675	Ingenuity Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	6130 Skyline Dr.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	Ingenuity Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 262-2046	195	7	27	88.2%	12 (6.2%)	19 (9.7%)	137 (70.3%)	12 (6.2%)	4 (2.1%)	1 (0.5%)	10 (5.1%)								9.5	18.2	2364	311
060363000320	2676	Washington Middle	Public	6-8	1101 Noble Ave.	Bakersfield	93305	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5810	657	28	23.8	93.6%	45 (6.8%)	45 (6.8%)	543 (82.6%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.4%)	$8,149							9.5	9.5	2715	39
062805004323	2677	Westlake Middle	Public	6-8	2629 Harrison St.	Oakland	94611	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2213	300	23	13.2	93.0%	6 (2.0%)	136 (45.3%)	97 (32.3%)	29 (9.7%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)	27 (9.0%)	$7,951							9.5	10.4	2694	17
061674002118	2678	Cesar Chavez Middle	Public	7-8	27845 Whitman Rd.	Hayward	94544	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3110	455	26	17.4	84.8%	6 (1.3%)	26 (5.7%)	331 (72.7%)	63 (13.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.3%)	14 (3.1%)								9.4	11.3	2658	20
061455013767	2679	Rutherford B. Gaston Senior Middle	Public	7-8	1100 East Church Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3400	792	51	15.6	97.3%	21 (2.7%)	107 (13.5%)	598 (75.5%)	34 (4.3%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.2%)	$8,249							9.4	11.2	2663	16
060157714245	2680	Mojave River Academy - Silver Mountain	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2151 West Main St.	Barstow	92311	San Bernardino County	Mojave River Academy - Silver Mountain District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-3222	565	24	23.5	84.4%	154 (27.3%)	58 (10.3%)	308 (54.5%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (6.9%)								9.3	6.1	2774	94

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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