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)
061146001275	1251	Sussman (Edward A.) Middle	Public	6-8	12500 Birchdale Ave.	Downey	90242	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3572	1,218	55	22.2	74.5%	34 (2.8%)	38 (3.1%)	1,101 (90.4%)	33 (2.7%)	3 (0.2%)	4 (0.3%)	5 (0.4%)	$12,312							46.8	39.6	1472	221
063432005558	1252	Taft Middle	Public	6-8	9191 Gramercy Dr.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 935-2650	375	20	18.9	61.9%	71 (18.9%)	54 (14.4%)	143 (38.1%)	47 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	57 (15.2%)	$10,631							46.8	50.3	1157	95
060236614333	1253	JCS - Pine Valley	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	28876 Old Highway 80	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	JCS - Pine Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-1300	150	11	14.1	39.3%	103 (68.7%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (22.7%)	2 (1.3%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.3%)								46.7	63.5	806	447
069102311839	1254	Forest Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	470 Searls Ave.	Nevada City	95959	Nevada County	Nevada County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 265-4823	806	39	20.6	41.6%	618 (76.7%)	1 (0.1%)	108 (13.4%)	6 (0.7%)	9 (1.1%)	3 (0.4%)	53 (6.6%)	$9,667							46.7	48.7	1208	46
060214310866	1255	Gabriella Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1435 Logan St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Gabriella Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 413-5741	400	23	17.7	88.3%	10 (2.5%)	5 (1.3%)	364 (91.0%)	10 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.5%)								46.7	42.8	1376	121
063036008941	1256	Lloyd G. Johnson Junior High	Public	6-8	938 Wildwood Rd.	Arbuckle	95912	Colusa County	Pierce Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 476-3261	336	16	20.3	75.9%	54 (16.1%)	2 (0.6%)	274 (81.5%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$6,364							46.6	51.2	1132	124
060256414577	1257	Bridges Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	400 South Santa Fe Ave.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Bridges Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 200-8819	134	4	32.2	88.8%	1 (0.7%)	11 (8.2%)	119 (88.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.5%)								46.6	24.4	2081	824
063474005864	1258	San Lorenzo Valley Middle	Public	6-8	7179 Hacienda Way	Felton	95018	Santa Cruz County	San Lorenzo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 335-4452	411	20	20.1	29.2%	312 (75.9%)	1 (0.2%)	72 (17.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.8%)	$6,772							46.6	50.5	1153	105
060558013869	1259	Jimenez Roberto and Dr. Francisco Elementary	Public	K-8	1970 South Biscayne St.	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-4340	1,043	44	23.5	78.8%	34 (3.3%)	2 (0.2%)	962 (92.2%)	32 (3.1%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.0%)	$7,020							46.6	38.8	1501	242
063735012891	1260	South Bay Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6077 Loma Ave.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	South Bay Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 443-4828	63	3	18.9	84.1%	28 (44.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (25.4%)	2 (3.2%)	8 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (12.7%)	$10,268							46.6	62.4	836	424

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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