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)
061455005749	1901	J. E. Young Academic Center	Public, Alternative	K-12	822 North Abby St.	Fresno	93701	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3190	1,820	78	23.2	92.0%	152 (8.4%)	157 (8.6%)	1,225 (67.3%)	202 (11.1%)	14 (0.8%)	12 (0.7%)	55 (3.0%)	$24,015							28	21.8	2187	286
061218001382	1902	Rivera Middle	Public	6-8	7200 Citronell Ave.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7580	586	26	22.2	85.5%	9 (1.5%)	3 (0.5%)	571 (97.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$3,524							27.9	27.9	1915	13
063531014192	1903	Advanced Learning Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	408 East Santa Clara Ave.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 564-2100	332	30	11	69.3%	8 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	316 (95.2%)	4 (1.2%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$9,625							27.8	28.7	1870	33
061887002278	1904	Benjamin Franklin Intermediate	Public	6-8	700 Stewart Ave.	Colma	94015	San Mateo County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 991-1202	500	22	23	50.6%	47 (9.4%)	7 (1.4%)	224 (44.8%)	187 (37.4%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.6%)	21 (4.2%)	$11,361							27.8	35	1630	274
060189714356	1905	Scale Leadership Academy - East	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1880 Compton Ave	Corona	92881	Riverside County	Scale Leadership Academy - East District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(888) 315-4660	956	30	32.2	58.8%	345 (36.1%)	132 (13.8%)	303 (31.7%)	57 (6.0%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.5%)	112 (11.7%)								27.7	22.1	2175	270
064098007931	1906	Homestead (Alternative)	Public	K-8	150 Day Rd.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-7955	63	3	20.8	44.4%	22 (34.9%)	2 (3.2%)	35 (55.6%)	2 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.2%)	$5,822							27.7	42.6	1382	524
063432005525	1907	Montgomery Middle	Public	6-8	2470 Ulric St.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 397-6600	357	19	18.5	82.4%	26 (7.3%)	31 (8.7%)	218 (61.1%)	65 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.8%)	$9,665							27.7	28.9	1856	51
064146006850	1908	Washington Colony Elementary	Public	K-8	130 East Lincoln Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Washington Colony Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 233-0706	449	23	19.4	82.0%	23 (5.1%)	3 (0.7%)	405 (90.2%)	12 (2.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)								27.7	34.2	1660	248
060558011436	1909	Kunst (Tommie) Junior High	Public	7-8	930 Hidden Pines Way	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-5800	1,030	56	18.3	61.1%	29 (2.8%)	4 (0.4%)	960 (93.2%)	30 (2.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	$8,708							27.7	22.1	2174	265
063864006478	1910	Chula Vista Middle	Public	7-8	415 Fifth Ave.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 498-6800	638	30	21.2	72.7%	45 (7.1%)	16 (2.5%)	517 (81.0%)	18 (2.8%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	36 (5.6%)	$8,713							27.6	24.2	2088	178

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.