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)
060133207240	2591	Keema School for Independent Study	Public, Alternative	K-12	1281 North Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3410	582	29	20.2	91.8%	110 (18.9%)	91 (15.6%)	265 (45.5%)	42 (7.2%)	7 (1.2%)	8 (1.4%)	57 (9.8%)								11.7	10.7	2684	93
060218714269	2592	Animo Compton Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	13305 South San Pedro St.	Los Angeles	90061	Los Angeles County	Animo Compton Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-1600	330	21	15.8	93.0%	7 (2.1%)	133 (40.3%)	185 (56.1%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)								11.7	9.3	2719	127
063441005590	2593	Carmichael (Bessie)/FEC	Public	K-8	375 Seventh St.	San Francisco	94103	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 355-6916	557	26	21	68.8%	47 (8.4%)	96 (17.2%)	160 (28.7%)	162 (29.1%)	4 (0.7%)	5 (0.9%)	83 (14.9%)	$6,103							11.7	14.4	2536	57
060160114270	2594	Mojave River Academy - Gold Canyon	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8922 Beech Ave.	Fontana	92335	San Bernardino County	Mojave River Academy - Gold Canyon District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-3222	233	10	22.5	89.3%	20 (8.6%)	9 (3.9%)	188 (80.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.3%)								11.7	17.3	2417	177
060001509084	2595	Lucerne Valley Middle	Public	7-8	33233 Rabbit Springs Rd.	Lucerne Valley	92356	San Bernardino County	Lucerne Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 248-2124	166	12	13.9	92.8%	58 (34.9%)	1 (0.6%)	102 (61.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.4%)	$10,996							11.7	12.9	2600	5
064158006858	2596	Westfield Village Elementary	Public	K-8	508 Poplar St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7720	472	24	19.9	93.4%	45 (9.5%)	17 (3.6%)	337 (71.4%)	55 (11.7%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.0%)	$8,107							11.7	11.1	2674	78
062958013949	2597	Innovations Academy of Palmdale	Public, Virtual	K-8	37230 37th St. East	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 236-0161	431	16	26.7	87.2%	18 (4.2%)	108 (25.1%)	279 (64.7%)	7 (1.6%)	7 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	$3,952							11.7	10.3	2700	103
060243000141	2598	Wells Middle	Public	6-8	10000 Wells Ave.	Riverside	92503	Riverside County	Alvord Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 358-1705	783	35	22.5	96.8%	19 (2.4%)	13 (1.7%)	737 (94.1%)	10 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	$7,977							11.7	15.9	2467	131
063531006007	2599	Sierra Preparatory Academy	Public	K-8	2021 North Grand Ave.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 567-3500	776	43	18.2	85.3%	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.5%)	761 (98.1%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$8,672							11.7	9.4	2717	118
062271003047	2600	Samuel Gompers Middle	Public	6-8	234 East 112th St.	Los Angeles	90061	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 241-4000	428	30	14.2	91.4%	9 (2.1%)	151 (35.3%)	263 (61.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	$19,668							11.6	15	2509	91

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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

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

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