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)
060411000377	1631	Torch Middle	Public	6-8	751 North Vineland Ave.	City Of Industry	91746	Los Angeles County	Bassett Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 931-2700	329	16	20.9	93.3%	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	307 (93.3%)	19 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$5,097							34.8	33.8	1675	44
060162813064	1632	ABLE Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6515 Inglewood Ave.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	ABLE Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 478-1600	1,189	54	22.1	72.3%	77 (6.5%)	143 (12.0%)	792 (66.6%)	101 (8.5%)	6 (0.5%)	7 (0.6%)	63 (5.3%)								34.8	32.7	1713	81
069113512749	1633	Val Verde Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	972 Morgan St.	Perris	92571	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 443-2450	345	20	17.1	87.8%	15 (4.3%)	39 (11.3%)	266 (77.1%)	7 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	14 (4.1%)	$2,161							34.8	20.1	2264	631
061089001208	1634	Cecil Avenue Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1430 Cecil Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-5030	604	27	22	87.6%	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	547 (90.6%)	41 (6.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.0%)	$11,629							34.8	34	1664	30
062691004073	1635	Cesar Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	2801 Hop Ranch Rd.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 487-1700	1,012	44	22.8	49.4%	42 (4.2%)	40 (4.0%)	628 (62.1%)	241 (23.8%)	8 (0.8%)	17 (1.7%)	36 (3.6%)	$11,024							34.8	33.6	1681	46
061111008560	1636	Horizon	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	43-330 Palm Royale Dr.	La Quinta	92253	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 238-9720	414	21	19.5	83.6%	59 (14.3%)	13 (3.1%)	310 (74.9%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.5%)	$14,183							34.8	46.3	1277	359
061949008868	1637	Kerman Middle	Public	7-8	601 South First St.	Kerman	93630	Fresno County	Kerman Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 843-9600	798	37	21.4	85.6%	50 (6.3%)	5 (0.6%)	697 (87.3%)	40 (5.0%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$8,293							34.7	35.8	1606	31
060194513029	1638	Palmdale Aerospace Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3300 East Palmdale Blvd.	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Aerospace Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-3680	2,278	89	25.5	54.7%	104 (4.6%)	129 (5.7%)	1,918 (84.2%)	70 (3.1%)	7 (0.3%)	1 (0.0%)	47 (2.1%)								34.7	38.3	1522	116
060006501240	1639	Washington Intermediate	Public	7-8	1150 North Hayes Ave.	Dinuba	93618	Tulare County	Dinuba Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 595-7252	1,010	46	21.7	81.3%	23 (2.3%)	5 (0.5%)	967 (95.7%)	10 (1.0%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,753							34.7	39.5	1477	162
062853004417	1640	Orange Center Elementary	Public	K-8	3530 South Cherry Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Orange Center	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 237-0437	254	14	18.1	85.0%	12 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	207 (81.5%)	32 (12.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$13,790							34.6	35.6	1611	29

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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:

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

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.