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)
069102410567	2631	ACCESS County Community	Public, Alternative	K-12	200 Kalmus Dr.	Costa Mesa	92628	Orange County	Orange County Department of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 245-6404	1,225	65	18.8	79.8%	130 (10.6%)	33 (2.7%)	967 (78.9%)	24 (2.0%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.5%)	55 (4.5%)	$15,655							10.9	5.2	2794	163
063801011781	2632	Wilhelmina Henry Elementary	Public	K-8	1107 South Wagner Ave.	Stockton	95215	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7490	901	34	26.2	77.0%	25 (2.8%)	13 (1.4%)	829 (92.0%)	20 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.6%)	$7,257							10.9	11.8	2632
062958014085	2633	Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Academy	Public	6-8	38060 20th St. East	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 537-6101	802	38	21.1	93.9%	18 (2.2%)	155 (19.3%)	612 (76.3%)	5 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (1.0%)								10.9	11.8	2635	2
060221712198	2634	ACE Empower Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	625 South Sunset Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	ACE Empower Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 729-3920	191	8	24.5	84.8%	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	188 (98.4%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								10.8	16.4	2450	184
062805011909	2635	United for Success Academy Middle	Public	6-8	2101 35th Ave.	Oakland	94601	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3228	370	23	15.8	95.9%	6 (1.6%)	50 (13.5%)	280 (75.7%)	16 (4.3%)	2 (0.5%)	6 (1.6%)	10 (2.7%)	$8,010							10.8	11.1	2669	34
060912007686	2636	Coalinga Middle	Public	6-8	265 Cambridge Ave.	Coalinga	93210	Fresno County	Coalinga-Huron Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 935-7550	684	33	20.7	84.1%	87 (12.7%)	7 (1.0%)	565 (82.6%)	10 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.9%)	$6,742							10.8	11.2	2665	29
060155212331	2637	Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1009 66th Ave.	Oakland	94610	Alameda County	Aspire Golden State College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 567-9631	432	21	20.8	80.8%	2 (0.5%)	65 (15.0%)	351 (81.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.3%)								10.7	18.4	2358	279
069104508660	2638	La Sierra High	Public, Charter	7-12	1735 East Houston Ave.	Visalia	93292	Tulare County	Tulare County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 733-6963	254	14	17.7	75.2%	32 (12.6%)	0 (0.0%)	208 (81.9%)	2 (0.8%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.5%)								10.7	10.1	2704	66
060214413757	2639	Alpha: Jose Hernandez	Public, Charter	K-8	1601 Cunningham Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Alpha: Jose Hernandez District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 780-1551	451	21	21.3	90.0%	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	429 (95.1%)	17 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								10.6	16	2464	175
060162412935	2640	Animo Legacy Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	12226 South Western Ave.	Los Angeles	90047	Los Angeles County	Animo Legacy Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 600-6000	917	50	18.1	94.5%	5 (0.5%)	262 (28.6%)	628 (68.5%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	13 (1.4%)								10.6	12.6	2608	32

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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.