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)
062271012898	1491	Rancho Dominguez Preparatory	Public	6-12	4110 Santa Fe Ave.	Long Beach	90810	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 847-6400	712	40	17.8	82.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,576							39.2	35	1631	140
062409003621	1492	Arboga Elementary	Public	K-8	1686 Broadway	Olivehurst	95961	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 741-6101	617	25	24.7	59.5%	225 (36.5%)	15 (2.4%)	263 (42.6%)	55 (8.9%)	12 (1.9%)	6 (1.0%)	41 (6.6%)								39.2	41.4	1416	76
061473001798	1493	Nicolas Junior High	Public	7-8	1100 West Olive Ave.	Fullerton	92833	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-7775	631	31	20.3	89.4%	32 (5.1%)	3 (0.5%)	547 (86.7%)	24 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	21 (3.3%)	$5,994							39.2	35.7	1609	116
061686009376	1494	Riverview Middle	Public	7-8	13943 Rivers Edge Rd.	Helendale	92342	San Bernardino County	Helendale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 952-1266	158	8	19.8	53.2%	55 (34.8%)	6 (3.8%)	89 (56.3%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.3%)								39.2	23.6	2119	625
060160614256	1495	Northern United - Siskiyou Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	423 South Broadway	Yreka	96097	Siskiyou County	Northern United - Siskiyou Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 842-4509	123	10	11.8	86.2%	84 (68.3%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (18.7%)	1 (0.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (8.9%)								39.2			(n/a)
060240614327	1496	Connecting Waters Charter School - Central Valley	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2000 West Briggsmore Ave.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Connecting Waters Charter School - Central Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1119	624	49	12.6	51.3%	198 (31.7%)	7 (1.1%)	305 (48.9%)	32 (5.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	77 (12.3%)								39.2	55.7	1018	478
063680512899	1497	Sierra Junior High	Public	7-8	33326 Lodge Rd.	Tollhouse	93667	Fresno County	Sierra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 855-8311	185	10	18.9	36.2%	103 (55.7%)	1 (0.5%)	43 (23.2%)	5 (2.7%)	22 (11.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.9%)	$3,897							39.2	48.2	1217	280
061203001340	1498	Wilson Junior High	Public	7-8	600 South Wilson	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-5341	630	32	19.4	80.0%	13 (2.1%)	5 (0.8%)	604 (95.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	$7,977							39.1	35.9	1600	102
060181013698	1499	California Virtual Academy at Sutter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Sutter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,394	49	28.2	67.1%	478 (34.3%)	314 (22.5%)	367 (26.3%)	143 (10.3%)	28 (2.0%)	24 (1.7%)	40 (2.9%)								39.1	44.5	1325	174
061734009378	1500	Cerra Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	2151 Cerra Vista Dr.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4470	599	24	25.1	39.1%	110 (18.4%)	11 (1.8%)	405 (67.6%)	28 (4.7%)	5 (0.8%)	5 (0.8%)	35 (5.8%)	$6,599							39	43.3	1367	133

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.