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)
061632512808	461	Cedarlane Academy	Public	K-8	16333 Cedarlane Dr.	Hacienda Heights	91745	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-8002	593	28	21.2	66.8%	6 (1.0%)	5 (0.8%)	312 (52.6%)	260 (43.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.7%)								80.8	66.6	749	288
060001909278	462	Wells Middle	Public	6-8	6800 Penn Dr.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 828-6227	963	47	20.3	13.8%	246 (25.5%)	42 (4.4%)	180 (18.7%)	376 (39.0%)	2 (0.2%)	9 (0.9%)	108 (11.2%)	$7,085							80.7	84.9	377	85
060195513261	463	Lashon Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	7477 Kester Ave.	Van Nuys	91405	Los Angeles County	Lashon Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 514-4566	526	26	20.3	48.5%	187 (35.6%)	14 (2.7%)	298 (56.7%)	19 (3.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.3%)								80.6	67	742	279
063441005585	464	Aptos Middle	Public	6-8	105 Aptos Ave.	San Francisco	94127	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4520	848	38	22.3	49.8%	89 (10.5%)	61 (7.2%)	210 (24.8%)	369 (43.5%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	114 (13.4%)	$6,103							80.6	79.7	495	31
061336001528	465	Suisun Valley Elementary	Public	K-8	4985 Lambert Rd.	Fairfield	94534	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 421-4338	490	19	25.7	24.9%	197 (40.2%)	23 (4.7%)	152 (31.0%)	60 (12.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (11.8%)	$5,093							80.6	61.4	864	399
060002814529	466	Home INstead INnovation Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	42240 Camino Romo	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 294-6150	340	20	17.3	36.5%	98 (28.8%)	28 (8.2%)	138 (40.6%)	32 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	40 (11.8%)								80.6	72.5	629	163
060168000037	467	Bowman Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	13777 Bowman Rd.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Ackerman Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 885-1974	596	28	21	25.3%	426 (71.5%)	2 (0.3%)	96 (16.1%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (9.9%)								80.4	82	439	28
061581012452	468	Gratton Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4500 South Gratton Rd.	Denair	95316	Stanislaus County	Gratton Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 632-0505	119	5	23.8	15.1%	92 (77.3%)	1 (0.8%)	23 (19.3%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	$13,339							80.4	73.4	613	145
060002803647	469	Vail Ranch Middle	Public	6-8	33340 Camino Piedra Rojo	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 302-5188	813	38	21.4	19.1%	327 (40.2%)	22 (2.7%)	263 (32.3%)	86 (10.6%)	12 (1.5%)	3 (0.4%)	100 (12.3%)	$10,157							80.3	82.3	433	36
063588006138	470	Carlton Hills Elementary	Public	K-8	9353 Pike Rd.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 258-3400	586	26	22.5	37.0%	323 (55.1%)	4 (0.7%)	180 (30.7%)	31 (5.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (8.0%)	$10,007							80.3	81.8	445	25

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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