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)
060175714337	1141	Suncoast Preparatory Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3857 Birch St. #297	Newport Beach	92660	Orange County	Suncoast Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 994-6724	1,067	40	26.9	36.4%	478 (44.8%)	32 (3.0%)	353 (33.1%)	41 (3.8%)	4 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	153 (14.3%)								50.9			(n/a)
062532003782	1142	Santa Fe Computer Science Magnet	Public	6-8	148 West Duarte Rd.	Monrovia	91016	Los Angeles County	Monrovia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 471-2700	445	19	23.3	78.2%	29 (6.5%)	21 (4.7%)	323 (72.6%)	54 (12.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.0%)	$8,028							50.9	47.8	1230	88
061203012660	1143	Imperial Valley Home School Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2370 Main St.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 335-5100	134	5	26.8	55.2%	12 (9.0%)	2 (1.5%)	116 (86.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)	$7,676							50.8	39.2	1489	346
061111008765	1144	John Glenn Middle School of International Studies	Public	6-8	79-655 Miles Ave.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 200-3700	1,065	42	25.4	66.2%	194 (18.2%)	12 (1.1%)	786 (73.8%)	35 (3.3%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (3.3%)	$7,798							50.8	51.2	1131	13
060176512723	1145	Rio Valley Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1110 West Kettleman Drive Ste.	Lodi	95240	San Joaquin County	Rio Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 368-4934	731	32	22.5	75.1%	297 (40.6%)	41 (5.6%)	281 (38.4%)	83 (11.4%)	12 (1.6%)	4 (0.5%)	13 (1.8%)								50.8	49.1	1195	50
060223708508	1146	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	697 South Burlington Ave.	Los Angeles	90057	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 413-4245	601	27	22.5	99.5%	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	600 (99.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								50.8	50.8	1141	5
060207211593	1147	Alder Grove Charter School 2	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	714 F St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Alder Grove Charter School 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 268-0854	438	25	17.6	71.0%	287 (65.5%)	3 (0.7%)	68 (15.5%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (13.0%)								50.8	39.7	1470	323
060003406982	1148	Windsor Middle	Public	6-8	9500 Brooks Rd. South	Windsor	95492	Sonoma County	Windsor Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 837-7737	765	41	18.7	48.1%	302 (39.5%)	6 (0.8%)	383 (50.1%)	9 (1.2%)	6 (0.8%)	3 (0.4%)	55 (7.2%)	$7,732							50.8	50.6	1149	1
062250002747	1149	Muir K-8	Public	K-8	3038 Delta Ave.	Long Beach	90810	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 426-5571	1,046	44	23.6	66.7%	17 (1.6%)	111 (10.6%)	717 (68.5%)	154 (14.7%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (1.4%)	32 (3.1%)	$7,689							50.7	61.5	863	286
062157002571	1150	Liberty Elementary	Public	K-8	1771 East Pacific Ave.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Liberty Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-1675	819	36	22.5	44.0%	325 (39.7%)	14 (1.7%)	428 (52.3%)	16 (2.0%)	14 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	21 (2.6%)	$7,281							50.7	48	1225	75

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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