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)
060223912755	841	Wildflower Open Classroom	Public, Charter	K-8	2414 Cohasset Rd. Ste. 3	Chico	95926	Butte County	Wildflower Open Classroom District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 892-1676	146	9	16.2	26.0%	112 (76.7%)	6 (4.1%)	18 (12.3%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.5%)								61.8			(n/a)
063255005053	842	Fred T. Korematsu Middle	Public	7-8	7125 Donal Ave.	El Cerrito	94530	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1449	681	31	22	32.9%	211 (31.0%)	85 (12.5%)	219 (32.2%)	94 (13.8%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	65 (9.5%)	$6,690							61.7	60.1	899	57
062511003725	843	Mission Elementary	Public	K-8	36825 Foothill Rd.	Soledad	93960	Monterey County	Mission Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 678-3524	122	8	15.2	17.2%	24 (19.7%)	2 (1.6%)	93 (76.2%)	3 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								61.7	58.4	948	105
062250002697	844	Bancroft Middle	Public	6-8	5301 East Centralia St.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 425-7461	854	36	23.9	46.0%	103 (12.1%)	110 (12.9%)	442 (51.8%)	129 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	63 (7.4%)	$8,209							61.6	64.9	780	64
063684006255	845	Hillside Middle	Public	6-8	2222 East Fitzgerald Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6810	897	39	23.1	40.4%	298 (33.2%)	10 (1.1%)	407 (45.4%)	124 (13.8%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	47 (5.2%)	$7,738							61.6	61.3	866	21
063417013674	846	Paakuma K-8	Public	K-8	17875 Sycamore Creek Loop Pkwy	San Bernardino	92407	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 355-3137	982	45	21.6	47.6%	153 (15.6%)	91 (9.3%)	622 (63.3%)	53 (5.4%)	6 (0.6%)	5 (0.5%)	52 (5.3%)	$7,068							61.6	57.7	970	124
060819000804	847	Royal Oak Middle	Public	7-8	303 South Glendora Ave.	Covina	91724	Los Angeles County	Charter Oak Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 967-6354	622	31	19.8	65.8%	69 (11.1%)	15 (2.4%)	464 (74.6%)	49 (7.9%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.2%)	$7,877							61.6	67.8	726	121
060189611766	848	Albert Einstein Academies	Public, Charter	K-8	3035 Ash St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	Albert Einstein Academies District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 859-1550	1,440	60	23.9	36.8%	478 (33.2%)	30 (2.1%)	795 (55.2%)	26 (1.8%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	108 (7.5%)								61.6	53.5	1071	223
060241412026	849	River Oak Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	555 Leslie St.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	River Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 467-1855	236	10	23	41.9%	144 (61.0%)	2 (0.8%)	58 (24.6%)	11 (4.7%)	6 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.9%)								61.5	62.5	830	19
062569004325	850	Mesa Verde Middle	Public	6-8	14000 Peach Hill Rd.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-6309	565	23	24.7	31.0%	233 (41.2%)	4 (0.7%)	252 (44.6%)	42 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (5.8%)	$5,191							61.5	67.4	738	112

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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