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)
064215006903	441	Helen Stacey Middle	Public	6-8	6311 Larchwood Dr.	Huntington Beach	92647	Orange County	Westminster	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 894-7212	864	38	22.6	62.0%	183 (21.2%)	6 (0.7%)	360 (41.7%)	265 (30.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	45 (5.2%)	$5,702							81.8	83.4	405	36
061920002308	442	Junction Elementary	Public	K-8	9087 Deschutes Rd.	Palo Cedro	96073	Shasta County	Junction Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 547-3274	372	23	15.9	26.3%	293 (78.8%)	5 (1.3%)	48 (12.9%)	9 (2.4%)	7 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.7%)	$9,608							81.7	69	696	254
064347004175	443	Butte Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	2195 Blevin Rd.	Yuba City	95993	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-5034	852	42	20.3	55.3%	238 (27.9%)	9 (1.1%)	252 (29.6%)	261 (30.6%)	6 (0.7%)	4 (0.5%)	81 (9.5%)	$6,875							81.7	81	464	21
063942006565	444	Madrona Middle	Public	6-8	21364 Madrona Ave.	Torrance	90503	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4562	674	26	26.3	28.3%	116 (17.2%)	17 (2.5%)	237 (35.2%)	251 (37.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (7.4%)	$4,707							81.7	80.4	480	36
060225814145	445	Coastal Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4096 Calle Platino	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Coastal Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-4020	1,876	78	24.1	30.3%	1,025 (54.6%)	31 (1.7%)	500 (26.7%)	57 (3.0%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	254 (13.5%)								81.6	83.4	403	42
060233112651	446	Community Roots Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	29292 Crown Valley Pkwy.	Laguna Niguel	92677	Orange County	Community Roots Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 831-4272	786	42	18.5	11.7%	513 (65.3%)	3 (0.4%)	108 (13.7%)	47 (6.0%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (13.9%)								81.6	80.6	474	28
063442500557	447	Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	1372 East Las Tunas Dr.	San Gabriel	91776	Los Angeles County	San Gabriel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 287-5260	959	51	18.6	69.1%	30 (3.1%)	5 (0.5%)	387 (40.4%)	488 (50.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	43 (4.5%)	$6,646							81.6	79	512	65
060229313702	448	Da Vinci Connect	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12501 Isis Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Da Vinci Connect District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 725-5800	865	24	35.7	41.5%	160 (18.5%)	195 (22.5%)	306 (35.4%)	57 (6.6%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	139 (16.1%)								81.5	89	303	145
063488011403	449	San Elijo Middle	Public	6-8	1600 Schoolhouse Way	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2800	1,482	56	26.5	18.2%	841 (56.7%)	22 (1.5%)	351 (23.7%)	121 (8.2%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	141 (9.5%)	$6,252							81.4	88.1	326	123
060228814348	450	Elite Academic Academy - Mountain Empire	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	43414 Business Park Dr.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Elite Academic Academy - Mountain Empire District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(866) 354-8302	853	65	13	41.4%	354 (41.5%)	19 (2.2%)	348 (40.8%)	19 (2.2%)	4 (0.5%)	4 (0.5%)	102 (12.0%)								81.2	78.5	524	74

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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