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)
060192512271	471	Anahuacalmecac International Univ Prep of N. America	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4736 Huntington Dr. South	Los Angeles	90032	Los Angeles County	Anahuacalmecac International Univ Prep of N. America Distri	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 352-3148	261	18	14.6	87.0%	3 (1.1%)	2 (0.8%)	70 (26.8%)	2 (0.8%)	154 (59.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (11.5%)								80.3	57.6	972	501
060001308553	472	Spring View Middle	Public	7-8	5040 Fifth St.	Rocklin	95677	Placer County	Rocklin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 624-3381	773	39	19.9	20.8%	458 (59.2%)	11 (1.4%)	151 (19.5%)	70 (9.1%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.8%)	72 (9.3%)	$7,149							80.2	79.4	504	32
063480005873	473	Los Osos Middle	Public	6-8	1555 El Moro St.	Los Osos	93402	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 534-2835	539	27	19.7	41.6%	328 (60.9%)	2 (0.4%)	139 (25.8%)	25 (4.6%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (7.6%)	$13,900							80.2	82.7	418	55
062046002470	474	Vallemar Elementary	Public	K-8	377 Reina del Mar Ave.	Pacifica	94044	San Mateo County	Pacifica	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 738-6655	490	21	23.3	15.7%	191 (39.0%)	3 (0.6%)	153 (31.2%)	67 (13.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (15.5%)	$5,423							80.1	89.8	282	192
064068002907	475	Avery Middle	Public	6-8	4545 Moran Rd.	Avery	95224	Calaveras County	Vallecito Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 795-8520	198	11	18	60.6%	137 (69.2%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (23.2%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	11 (5.6%)	$8,003							80.1	75	582	107
064251006960	476	Placerita Junior High	Public	7-8	25015 North Newhall Ave.	Newhall	91321	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 259-1551	888	46	19.4	44.1%	252 (28.4%)	14 (1.6%)	543 (61.1%)	48 (5.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	29 (3.3%)	$10,673							80	77.7	537	61
060206512962	477	Sacramento Valley Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2399 Sellers Way	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Sacramento Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 596-6422	306	20	15.3	85.3%	4 (1.3%)	5 (1.6%)	9 (2.9%)	282 (92.2%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)								79.8	84.3	390	87
060242411940	478	Nevada City School of the Arts	Public, Charter	K-8	13032 Bitney Springs Rd. Bldg.	Nevada City	95959	Nevada County	Nevada City School of the Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 273-7736	431	27	16.1	48.5%	320 (74.2%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (13.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (12.1%)								79.8	81.4	454	24
060162712261	479	Innovations Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	5454 Ruffin Rd.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	Innovations Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 271-1414	467	8	57.1	19.7%	230 (49.3%)	12 (2.6%)	108 (23.1%)	36 (7.7%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	76 (16.3%)								79.8	92.9	208	271
060248714407	480	Excel Academy Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1 Technology Dr.	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Excel Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 387-7822	545	53	10.3	49.7%	124 (22.8%)	15 (2.8%)	258 (47.3%)	68 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	76 (13.9%)								79.7	81	467	13

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.