Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
060257100354	2611	Banta Elementary	Public	K-8	22345 El Rancho Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	Banta Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 229-4650	199	11	17.8	77.4%	34 (17.1%)	2 (1.0%)	151 (75.9%)	6 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)								11.3	25.2	2040	571
063311011731	2612	Clarksburg Middle	Public	7-9	52870 Netherlands Rd.	Clarksburg	95612	Yolo County	River Delta Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 744-1717	200	9	22.6	57.5%	36 (18.0%)	3 (1.5%)	144 (72.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	13 (6.5%)	$6,410							11.3	15.5	2490	122
062007014694	2613	Obsidian Middle	Public	6-8	15850-A Dam Road Extention	Clearlake	95422	Lake County	Konocti Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(707) 994-6447	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								11.3			(n/a)
060681000622	2614	Montgomery Middle	Public	6-8	1570 Melody Ln.	El Cajon	92019	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3107	831	38	21.7	85.6%	446 (53.7%)	39 (4.7%)	247 (29.7%)	40 (4.8%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	52 (6.3%)	$11,301							11.2	15.1	2506	108
063372005194	2615	Round Valley Elementary	Public	K-8	Foothill and Airport Sts.	Covelo	95428	Mendocino County	Round Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 983-6175	304	11	27.7	88.5%	30 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (24.0%)	0 (0.0%)	186 (61.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.9%)	$7,354							11.1	9.9	2708	93
064074006724	2616	Mare Island Health and Fitness Academy	Public	K-8	400 Rickover St.	Vallejo	94592	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8560	427	17	25.2	84.3%	21 (4.9%)	87 (20.4%)	280 (65.6%)	20 (4.7%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	15 (3.5%)								11.1	13.2	2578	38
061455001731	2617	Fort Miller Middle	Public	7-8	1302 East Dakota Ave.	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7100	623	40	15.4	98.1%	38 (6.1%)	89 (14.3%)	435 (69.8%)	35 (5.6%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.5%)	18 (2.9%)	$11,587							11.1	9.5	2716	99
060263008115	2618	Polaris High	Public	7-12	1800 West Ball Rd.	Anaheim	92804	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-3077	577	30	19	87.5%	61 (10.6%)	13 (2.3%)	453 (78.5%)	33 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	11 (1.9%)	$16,605							11.1	13.7	2569	49
060170012961	2619	City Heights Preparatory Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	4260 54th St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	City Heights Preparatory Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 795-3137	141	9	15.6	92.9%	28 (19.9%)	40 (28.4%)	60 (42.6%)	11 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	1 (0.7%)								11.1	11.1	2671	52
062637003962	2620	Oak Grove Middle	Public	6-8	2050 Minert Rd.	Concord	94518	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 682-1843	720	31	23.2	81.4%	33 (4.6%)	20 (2.8%)	552 (76.7%)	50 (6.9%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (1.0%)	56 (7.8%)	$11,876							11.1	11.6	2646	26

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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