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)
060190914323	1121	Northern United - Humboldt Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2020 Campton Rd.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	Northern United - Humboldt Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 445-2660	315	23	13.4	72.7%	190 (60.3%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (16.2%)	4 (1.3%)	18 (5.7%)	1 (0.3%)	48 (15.2%)								51.4	58.9	937	184
060146112419	1122	Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2840 West 1st St.	Santa Ana	92703	Orange County	Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 479-0115	504	30	17	80.2%	59 (11.7%)	10 (2.0%)	415 (82.3%)	16 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)								51.4	54.4	1049	73
061425007496	1123	John Sutter Middle	Public	6-8	701 East Walter	Fowler	93625	Fresno County	Fowler Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 834-6180	594	26	22.5	83.0%	39 (6.6%)	3 (0.5%)	491 (82.7%)	51 (8.6%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.2%)	$9,436							51.4	48.5	1212	89
061524001943	1124	Theodore Roosevelt Middle	Public	6-8	222 East Acacia Ave.	Glendale	91205	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 242-6845	818	39	20.7	78.2%	382 (46.7%)	11 (1.3%)	353 (43.2%)	64 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.7%)	$8,979							51.3	62.8	825	299
061152001285	1125	Maxwell Academy (Pk-8)	Public	K-8	733 Euclid Ave.	Duarte	91010	Los Angeles County	Duarte Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 599-5300	439	23	19	66.5%	7 (1.6%)	14 (3.2%)	388 (88.4%)	17 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.0%)	$7,086							51.3	47.8	1231	106
060237811789	1126	Family Partnership Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1157 E. Clark Ave. Ste. H	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Family Partnership Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 348-3333	400	23	17	44.0%	206 (51.5%)	3 (0.8%)	151 (37.8%)	6 (1.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.3%)								51.3	41	1429	303
060213610056	1127	The O'Farrell Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6130 Skyline Dr.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	The O'Farrell Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 263-3009	1,819	76	23.9	60.6%	32 (1.8%)	214 (11.8%)	1,059 (58.2%)	373 (20.5%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (0.8%)	125 (6.9%)								51.3	47.2	1247	120
063384007242	1128	Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	6251 13th St.	Sacramento	95831	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4510	481	21	22.9	33.9%	252 (52.4%)	20 (4.2%)	126 (26.2%)	21 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	61 (12.7%)	$6,702							51.2	51.6	1118	10
063386007199	1129	SVUSD Virtual Academy (Alternative)	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	25952 Cordillera Dr.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 830-3400	161	14	11.8	44.1%	61 (37.9%)	4 (2.5%)	47 (29.2%)	29 (18.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	17 (10.6%)								51.2	60.3	895	234
060151713179	1130	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. P	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	790	42	19	47.2%	274 (34.7%)	25 (3.2%)	393 (49.7%)	25 (3.2%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	65 (8.2%)								51.2	46.8	1261	131

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.