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)
060193710408	2351	Lighthouse Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	444 Hegenberger St.	Oakland	94621	Alameda County	Lighthouse Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 562-8801	544	27	19.8	94.7%	12 (2.2%)	40 (7.4%)	475 (87.3%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	12 (2.2%)								17.8	22.9	2144	207
060256014578	2352	Audeo Valley Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	27130 Eucalyptus Ave. Ste. A	Moreno Valley	92555	Riverside County	Audeo Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 242-6646	239	6	39.9	73.2%	21 (8.8%)	44 (18.4%)	156 (65.3%)	6 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	11 (4.6%)								17.7	17.9	2379	27
060231014147	2353	Adelante Dual Language Academy II	Public	K-8	1970 Cinderella Ln.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7100	319	16	19.9	79.3%	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	310 (97.2%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,909							17.7	5.3	2793	440
063243011376	2354	Richgrove Elementary	Public	K-8	20812 Grove Dr.	Richgrove	93261	Tulare County	Richgrove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 725-2424	508	28	18.2	93.5%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	498 (98.0%)	9 (1.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								17.7	13.9	2560	206
063801011782	2355	John C. Fremont Elementary	Public	K-8	2021 East Flora St.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7385	791	33	23.7	80.8%	38 (4.8%)	29 (3.7%)	672 (85.0%)	37 (4.7%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	9 (1.1%)	$7,051							17.6	19.4	2301	54
060190710522	2356	Downtown Value	Public, Charter	K-8	950 West Washington Blvd.	Los Angeles	90015	Los Angeles County	Downtown Value District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 748-8868	437	18	24.5	68.6%	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.1%)	428 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								17.6	21.8	2188	168
060171111105	2357	ASA Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3512 North E St.	San Bernardino	92405	San Bernardino County	ASA Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 475-3322	319	15	21.2	90.9%	22 (6.9%)	54 (16.9%)	222 (69.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	16 (5.0%)								17.6	15.2	2500	143
061608002266	2358	Vista Verde Middle	Public	7-8	1199 Elm Ave.	Greenfield	93927	Monterey County	Greenfield Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 674-1420	704	32	22.2	75.1%	6 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	692 (98.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$5,815							17.6	16.8	2439	81
060133205100	2359	Kohler Elementary	Public	K-8	4004 Bruce Way	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1850	425	18	23.6	83.5%	75 (17.6%)	49 (11.5%)	235 (55.3%)	11 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	49 (11.5%)								17.6	15	2507	148
062397003609	2360	Mark Twain Elementary	Public	K-8	646 Stanislaus Ave.	Angels Camp	95222	Calaveras County	Mark Twain Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 736-6533	514	23	22.4	56.8%	360 (70.0%)	4 (0.8%)	108 (21.0%)	3 (0.6%)	14 (2.7%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.7%)								17.5	27.4	1937	423

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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

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.