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)
062958008933	2471	Cactus Medical Health and Technology Magnet Academy	Public	6-8	3243 East Ave. R-8	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-0847	865	41	21.2	91.6%	26 (3.0%)	95 (11.0%)	705 (81.5%)	10 (1.2%)	8 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	19 (2.2%)	$1,067							15	17.5	2407	64
060363007099	2472	Sequoia Junior High	Public	7-8	900 Belle Terr.	Bakersfield	93304	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5940	771	36	21.4	91.3%	19 (2.5%)	71 (9.2%)	669 (86.8%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.9%)	$6,845							15	14.5	2535	63
060209310852	2473	Bert Corona Charter	Public, Charter	5-8	9400 Remick Ave.	Pacoima	91331	Los Angeles County	Bert Corona Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 834-5805	337	15	22	83.4%	11 (3.3%)	3 (0.9%)	322 (95.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								15	15.2	2502	29
060231000105	2474	Joseph George Middle	Public	6-8	277 Mahoney Dr.	San Jose	95127	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7600	390	23	16.7	80.3%	14 (3.6%)	2 (0.5%)	327 (83.8%)	39 (10.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.5%)	$14,683							15	15.9	2466	8
062361003579	2475	Golden West Elementary	Public	K-8	1031 North Main St.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7300	538	26	21	66.4%	98 (18.2%)	11 (2.0%)	377 (70.1%)	32 (5.9%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.2%)	$6,010							14.9	20.2	2261	214
062334004613	2476	Martin Luther King Junior Middle	Public	7-8	601 Lilly St.	Madera	93638	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 674-4681	919	46	19.8	97.2%	9 (1.0%)	16 (1.7%)	881 (95.9%)	7 (0.8%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$1,899							14.9	15.8	2471	5
060154312456	2477	New Designs Charter School-Watts	Public, Charter	6-12	12714 South Avalon Blvd.	Los Angeles	90061	Los Angeles County	New Designs Charter School-Watts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 418-0600	255	11	23.1	63.5%	0 (0.0%)	145 (56.9%)	109 (42.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)								14.9	11.5	2650	173
060170912466	2478	New Vision Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	26655 Highland Ave.	Highland	92346	San Bernardino County	New Vision Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 888-8390	363	14	25.7	93.1%	24 (6.6%)	78 (21.5%)	247 (68.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	9 (2.5%)								14.9	12.9	2598	120
062964004604	2479	Margaret White Elementary	Public	K-8	610 North Broadway	Blythe	92225	Riverside County	Palo Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 922-5159	653	26	25.1	80.1%	98 (15.0%)	56 (8.6%)	481 (73.7%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.9%)	3 (0.5%)	7 (1.1%)	$4,148							14.9	23.2	2134	345
060004707390	2480	North Elementary	Public	K-8	2875 Holly Dr.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3350	789	36	22	76.8%	38 (4.8%)	40 (5.1%)	568 (72.0%)	93 (11.8%)	6 (0.8%)	13 (1.6%)	30 (3.8%)	$7,383							14.8	20.4	2252	228

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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