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)
060985007209	831	Cesar Chavez Academy	Public	K-8	1150 Paseo Grande	Corona	92882	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 736-4640	938	39	24.2	77.5%	164 (17.5%)	18 (1.9%)	659 (70.3%)	67 (7.1%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	24 (2.6%)	$4,320							62.3	62	848	17
060200508596	832	Julian Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1704 Cape Horn	Julian	92036	San Diego County	Julian Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 765-3847	203	13	15.2	38.4%	80 (39.4%)	5 (2.5%)	82 (40.4%)	9 (4.4%)	4 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (10.3%)								62.3	67.4	736	96
062061002475	833	Lake Elementary	Public	K-8	4672 County Road North	Orland	95963	Glenn County	Lake Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 865-1255	185	9	20.9	43.2%	120 (64.9%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (32.4%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)								62.2	68.1	720	113
063459005710	834	Willow Glen Middle	Public	6-8	2105 Cottle Ave.	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6277	1,155	47	24.5	35.2%	404 (35.0%)	25 (2.2%)	551 (47.7%)	78 (6.8%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	91 (7.9%)	$11,509							62.2	66.1	761	73
060148412812	835	PUC Triumph Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter High	Public, Charter	6-12	13361 Glenoaks Blvd.	Sylmar	91342	Los Angeles County	PUC Triumph Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter High Di	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 356-2795	796	39	20.3	95.9%	14 (1.8%)	3 (0.4%)	750 (94.2%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (3.3%)								62.1	61	872	37
062376003594	836	Maple Elementary	Public	K-8	29161 Fresno Ave.	Shafter	93263	Kern County	Maple Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 746-4439	294	13	21.9	53.4%	66 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	223 (75.9%)	2 (0.7%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$7,945							62.1	55.9	1013	177
060224112782	837	ISANA Octavia Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3010 Estara Ave.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	ISANA Octavia Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 344-3622	375	18	20.8	77.6%	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.1%)	343 (91.5%)	20 (5.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)								62	62.8	826	11
060202707493	838	Antioch Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3325 Hacienda Way	Antioch	94509	Contra Costa County	Antioch Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 755-7311	204	11	19.2	31.4%	60 (29.4%)	26 (12.7%)	65 (31.9%)	38 (18.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	13 (6.4%)								61.9	69.8	687	151
062308003522	839	Judkins Middle	Public	7-8	680 Wadsworth St.	Pismo Beach	93449	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3600	458	24	18.7	64.2%	181 (39.5%)	3 (0.7%)	236 (51.5%)	12 (2.6%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.7%)	$4,683							61.8	60	900	61
063132004849	840	Lexington Elementary	Public	K-8	550 West Lexington Ave.	Pomona	91766	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4616	530	25	21.1	94.3%	10 (1.9%)	14 (2.6%)	484 (91.3%)	9 (1.7%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.7%)	$4,933							61.8	68	722	118

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.