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)
060251214416	671	Heartwood Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	170 Liberty School Rd.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Heartwood Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(415) 488-9572	528	21	24.7	33.3%	339 (64.2%)	4 (0.8%)	68 (12.9%)	17 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	90 (17.0%)								70.8	64.2	792	121
061233001402	672	Joseph Kerr Middle	Public	7-8	8865 Elk Grove Blvd.	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-7728	791	39	20.1	39.6%	262 (33.1%)	61 (7.7%)	228 (28.8%)	139 (17.6%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.8%)	92 (11.6%)	$7,887							70.8	67.8	723	51
060207107649	673	Chula Vista Learning Community Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	590 K St.	Chula Vista	91911	San Diego County	Chula Vista Learning Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 426-2885	1,427	69	20.6	59.3%	24 (1.7%)	2 (0.1%)	1,393 (97.6%)	2 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.4%)								70.7	60.7	884	211
060480000464	674	Piedmont Middle	Public	6-8	955 Piedmont Rd.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1945	625	27	23.1	31.4%	36 (5.8%)	9 (1.4%)	230 (36.8%)	312 (49.9%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.8%)	31 (5.0%)	$11,495							70.7	70.2	681	7
060200113850	675	NextGeneration STEAM Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	18001 Commercial St.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	NextGeneration STEAM Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 229-4736	763	28	27	36.3%	88 (11.5%)	63 (8.3%)	243 (31.8%)	301 (39.4%)	4 (0.5%)	5 (0.7%)	59 (7.7%)								70.4	56.6	996	321
060250514436	676	Sage Oak Charter School - South	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1473 Ford St.	Redlands	92373	San Bernardino County	Sage Oak Charter School - South District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(888) 435-4445	371	69	5.3	31.8%	177 (47.7%)	12 (3.2%)	138 (37.2%)	14 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	27 (7.3%)								70.3	64.3	787	111
062454014053	677	Harvest Hill S.T.E.A.M. Academy	Public	K-8	31600 Pat Rd.	Winchester	92596	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 325-6000	1,298	53	24.4	45.0%	288 (22.2%)	116 (8.9%)	530 (40.8%)	147 (11.3%)	4 (0.3%)	10 (0.8%)	203 (15.6%)	$8,615							70.3	70.4	676	1
063900008996	678	Templeton Middle	Public	6-8	925 Old County Rd.	Templeton	93465	San Luis Obispo County	Templeton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 434-5813	475	23	20.3	17.7%	317 (66.7%)	1 (0.2%)	112 (23.6%)	6 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (8.0%)	$8,658							70.3	75.9	562	116
061692002155	679	Idyllwild	Public	K-8	26700 State Highway 243	Idyllwild	92549	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 659-0750	269	16	17.3	73.2%	129 (48.0%)	2 (0.7%)	116 (43.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	1 (0.4%)	16 (5.9%)	$10,752							70.1	63.3	811	132
060191710896	680	Our Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	10045 Jumilla Ave.	Chatsworth	91311	Los Angeles County	Our Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 350-5000	405	21	19.7	23.7%	177 (43.7%)	20 (4.9%)	145 (35.8%)	33 (8.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.9%)								70.1	77.9	531	149

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.