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)
061455014077	2281	Wawona K-8	Public	K-8	4524 North Thorne Ave.	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7310	675	37	18.3	77.2%	54 (8.0%)	43 (6.4%)	539 (79.9%)	17 (2.5%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	15 (2.2%)	$12,616							19.3	15.2	2503	222
060285011275	2282	Dallas Ranch Middle	Public	6-8	1401 Mount Hamilton Dr.	Antioch	94531	Contra Costa County	Antioch Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 779-7485	752	33	22.9	68.1%	53 (7.0%)	218 (29.0%)	303 (40.3%)	124 (16.5%)	3 (0.4%)	9 (1.2%)	41 (5.5%)	$6,762							19.2	21.3	2211	71
060191608213	2283	Willits Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	1431 South Main St.	Willits	95490	Mendocino County	Willits Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 459-5506	123	8	14.5	64.2%	64 (52.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (31.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (11.4%)								19.2	37.7	1535	748
063060004743	2284	Rancho Medanos Junior High	Public	6-8	2301 Range Rd.	Pittsburg	94565	Contra Costa County	Pittsburg Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 473-2480	773	39	19.8	82.5%	24 (3.1%)	74 (9.6%)	593 (76.7%)	38 (4.9%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	39 (5.0%)	$6,859							19.2	22.3	2168	116
063801006420	2285	Kennedy Elementary	Public	K-8	630 West Ponce de Leon Dr.	Stockton	95210	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7225	524	20	26.1	88.5%	20 (3.8%)	91 (17.4%)	250 (47.7%)	121 (23.1%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.3%)	33 (6.3%)	$8,462							19.2	18.4	2360	75
060939000947	2286	Colton Middle	Public	7-8	670 West Laurel St.	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5009	845	41	20.6	91.2%	15 (1.8%)	16 (1.9%)	808 (95.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$6,001							19.2	15.5	2493	207
061392001590	2287	Fontana Middle	Public	6-8	8425 Mango Ave.	Fontana	92335	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5370	1,119	52	21.6	91.4%	33 (2.9%)	39 (3.5%)	1,030 (92.0%)	7 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.5%)								19.2	18.7	2343	56
060187710552	2288	Sequoia Career Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	4-12	1031 North State St.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	Sequoia Career Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 463-7080	127	9	13.6	76.4%	45 (35.4%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (48.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.9%)								19.1	12.1	2626	338
062088008717	2289	Amargosa Creek Middle	Public	6-8	44333 27th St. West	Lancaster	93536	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 729-6064	954	45	20.9	87.6%	372 (39.0%)	256 (26.8%)	228 (23.9%)	37 (3.9%)	9 (0.9%)	4 (0.4%)	48 (5.0%)	$8,500							19.1	22	2177	112
062958010905	2290	Desert Willow Fine Arts Sci and Technical Magnet Academy	Public	6-8	36555 Sunny Ln.	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 285-5866	1,020	41	24.7	90.8%	38 (3.7%)	127 (12.5%)	817 (80.1%)	14 (1.4%)	6 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	15 (1.5%)	$221							19.1	21.1	2216	74

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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

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