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)
060813013777	1461	Patricia Kay Beaver Elementary	Public	K-8	4927 Central Ave.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1500	509	21	24.2	62.7%	120 (23.6%)	2 (0.4%)	367 (72.1%)	8 (1.6%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	$9,701							39.9	47.7	1235	226
061347001536	1462	Fall River Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	44215 Walnut St.	McArthur	96056	Shasta County	Fall River Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 336-5515	275	14	19.9	40.7%	162 (58.9%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (33.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.7%)	$9,478							39.9	31.9	1746	284
062985012423	1463	Alondra Middle	Public	6-8	16200 Downey Ave.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8004	779	40	19.5	94.2%	5 (0.6%)	34 (4.4%)	713 (91.5%)	12 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.2%)	6 (0.8%)	$3,893							39.9	34.7	1641	178
063462005755	1464	John Barrett Middle	Public	6-8	4243 Barrett Rd.	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7842	672	30	22.6	49.4%	404 (60.1%)	43 (6.4%)	123 (18.3%)	38 (5.7%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	53 (7.9%)	$8,007							39.9	42.8	1379	85
060169912491	1465	Watts Learning Center Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	8800 South San Pedro St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	Watts Learning Center Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-4800	399	16	24.6	98.2%	2 (0.5%)	72 (18.0%)	322 (80.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)								39.9	35.4	1620	155
060006404873	1466	Pioneer Middle	Public	6-8	225 East College Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-7200	736	36	20.3	94.0%	33 (4.5%)	2 (0.3%)	618 (84.0%)	8 (1.1%)	61 (8.3%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (1.6%)	$6,707							39.8	37	1562	96
062703010391	1467	Delta Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	31400 South Koster Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	New Jerusalem Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-6363	798	49	16.4	48.7%	253 (31.7%)	46 (5.8%)	401 (50.3%)	28 (3.5%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	64 (8.0%)	$10,700							39.8	29.1	1849	382
060245412948	1468	Grow Academy Arvin	Public, Charter	K-8	901 Nectarine Ct.	Arvin	93203	Kern County	Grow Academy Arvin District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 855-8200	824	35	23.3	91.7%	19 (2.3%)	10 (1.2%)	788 (95.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.4%)								39.8	29.7	1827	359
062271003463	1469	Wilmington Mid Sci Technical Engr Arts Math (STEAM) Magnet	Public	6-8	1700 Gulf Ave.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 847-1500	1,268	73	17.4	94.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,836							39.8	28.5	1875	406
060540000499	1470	Blue Lake Union Elementary	Public	K-8	631 Greenwood Ave.	Blue Lake	95525	Humboldt County	Blue Lake Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 668-5674	172	11	15.2	65.1%	92 (53.5%)	2 (1.2%)	24 (14.0%)	2 (1.2%)	7 (4.1%)	1 (0.6%)	44 (25.6%)	$11,450							39.7	41.1	1424	46

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.