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)
063132004861	2141	Simons Middle	Public	6-8	900 East Franklin Ave.	Pomona	91766	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4544	623	28	22.2	98.2%	11 (1.8%)	11 (1.8%)	589 (94.5%)	10 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$4,948							22.5	25.8	2007	134
062865004446	2142	Portola Middle	Public	6-8	270 North Palm Dr.	Orange	92868	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6361	577	28	20.6	90.8%	17 (2.9%)	4 (0.7%)	506 (87.7%)	37 (6.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (1.9%)	$6,138							22.5	23.7	2115	27
061632502064	2143	Sparks Middle	Public	7-8	15100 Giordano St.	La Puente	91744	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-5001	320	15	21.4	77.5%	4 (1.3%)	1 (0.3%)	290 (90.6%)	22 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)								22.5	19.7	2287	144
062250002765	2144	Washington Middle	Public	6-8	1450 Cedar Ave.	Long Beach	90813	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 591-2434	889	40	22.2	79.4%	14 (1.6%)	100 (11.2%)	726 (81.7%)	28 (3.1%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	17 (1.9%)	$7,443							22.5	19.7	2288	144
060309000242	2145	Arena Elementary	Public	K-8	20 School St.	Point Arena	95468	Mendocino County	Arena Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 882-2131	221	11	20.8	46.6%	60 (27.1%)	0 (0.0%)	143 (64.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.6%)	$12,251							22.5	32.1	1743	402
060233904345	2146	HomeTech Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6249 Skyway	Paradise	95969	Butte County	HomeTech Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 872-1171	121	8	14.9	70.2%	82 (67.8%)	1 (0.8%)	19 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (10.7%)								22.5	14.6	2527	381
062423008898	2147	McFarland Junior High	Public	7-8	405 Mast Ave.	Mc Farland	93250	Kern County	McFarland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 792-3340	521	26	20.4	89.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	513 (98.5%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$149,521							22.4	20.5	2243	96
061293004331	2148	Esparto Middle	Public	6-8	26058 Country Road 21A	Esparto	95627	Yolo County	Esparto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 787-4151	228	10	22	83.8%	33 (14.5%)	3 (1.3%)	180 (78.9%)	3 (1.3%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.2%)	$5,308							22.4	19.1	2323	175
062271003475	2149	Orville Wright Engineering and Design Magnet	Public	6-8	6550 West 80th St.	Los Angeles	90045	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 258-6600	428	24	17.8	78.5%	14 (3.3%)	269 (62.9%)	109 (25.5%)	12 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.6%)	$13,152							22.4	28.8	1866	283
063135004865	2150	Pond Elementary	Public	K-8	29585 Pond Rd.	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Pond Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 792-2545	169	9	18.7	88.8%	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	159 (94.1%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.4%)	$12,927							22.4	39.4	1481	669

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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