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)
060199312031	1701	Voices College-Bound Language Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	715 Hellyer Ave.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Voices College-Bound Language Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 361-1960	364	16	22.8	38.7%	8 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	343 (94.2%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.5%)								33	35	1633	68
062664011271	1702	Napa Valley Independent Studies	Public, Alternative	K-12	1600 Myrtle Ave.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 259-8577	110	5	21.4	59.1%	31 (28.2%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (64.5%)	4 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	$4,194							33	32.8	1708	6
060189803426	1703	Vaughn Next Century Learning Center	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13330 Vaughn St.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Vaughn Next Century Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 896-7461	2,877	138	20.9	97.7%	15 (0.5%)	12 (0.4%)	2,837 (98.6%)	9 (0.3%)	1 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.1%)								32.9	27.5	1931	228
060238413691	1704	KIPP Academy of Innovation	Public, Charter	5-8	4240 East Olympic Blvd.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	KIPP Academy of Innovation District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 406-8000	459	19	24.1	89.5%	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	452 (98.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)								32.9	42.2	1397	307
064347011377	1705	Andros Karperos	Public	K-8	1700 Camino de Flores	Yuba City	95993	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-4440	1,081	55	19.6	80.5%	171 (15.8%)	14 (1.3%)	440 (40.7%)	402 (37.2%)	10 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (4.1%)	$7,538							32.8	37.4	1548	157
063801006400	1706	Cleveland Elementary	Public	K-8	20 East Fulton St.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7165	652	28	23.2	78.2%	41 (6.3%)	76 (11.7%)	411 (63.0%)	88 (13.5%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (4.9%)	$8,618							32.8	33	1698	8
060241111819	1707	California Connections Academy Central Valley	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5313 Road 39	Alpaugh	93201	Tulare County	California Connections Academy Central Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 571-2300	696	16	43.3	65.1%	207 (29.7%)	21 (3.0%)	360 (51.7%)	12 (1.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	84 (12.1%)								32.8	37.2	1555	152
060226611641	1708	Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex	Public, Charter	6-12	5356 South Fifth Ave.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 596-2290	976	45	21.6	97.6%	2 (0.2%)	50 (5.1%)	918 (94.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)								32.8	19.1	2322	614
060235112361	1709	Para Los Ninos Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	835 Stanford Ave.	Los Angeles	90021	Los Angeles County	Para Los Ninos Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 896-2640	298	16	19	88.6%	8 (2.7%)	3 (1.0%)	284 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)								32.8	16.1	2462	753
063459005720	1710	Herbert Hoover Middle	Public	6-8	1635 Park Ave.	San Jose	95126	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6274	971	45	21.6	60.9%	99 (10.2%)	28 (2.9%)	760 (78.3%)	42 (4.3%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (4.0%)	$12,222							32.8	33.4	1688	22

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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