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)
060939000957	2291	Terrace Hills Middle	Public	7-8	22579 DeBerry St.	Grand Terrace	92313	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5022	838	42	20	74.3%	77 (9.2%)	66 (7.9%)	660 (78.8%)	19 (2.3%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.2%)	$5,966							19	18.8	2339	48
062271002856	2292	Mary McLeod Bethune Middle	Public	6-8	155 West 69th St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 541-1800	858	48	17.8	98.5%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,902							19	22.1	2170	122
060639009328	2293	Fred L. Thompson Junior High	Public	7-8	4200 Planz Rd.	Bakersfield	93309	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 832-8011	728	41	17.7	93.1%	60 (8.2%)	108 (14.8%)	512 (70.3%)	15 (2.1%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.0%)	24 (3.3%)	$11,637							19	22.5	2159	134
061455004484	2294	Elizabeth Terronez Middle	Public	6-8	2300 South Willow	Fresno	93725	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6570	638	38	16.9	88.7%	19 (3.0%)	51 (8.0%)	408 (63.9%)	141 (22.1%)	7 (1.1%)	2 (0.3%)	10 (1.6%)	$10,203							19	17.3	2418	124
063432012892	2295	Knox Middle	Public	6-8	1098 South 49th St.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-5500	484	25	19	91.5%	8 (1.7%)	78 (16.1%)	359 (74.2%)	24 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	12 (2.5%)	$8,262							19	18.5	2356	61
060217211256	2296	KIPP Bayview Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1060 Key Ave.	San Francisco	94124	San Francisco County	KIPP Bayview Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 467-2522	199	13	15.7	88.4%	0 (0.0%)	71 (35.7%)	96 (48.2%)	7 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.5%)	12 (6.0%)								19	27.2	1946	350
062271003231	2297	Northridge Middle	Public	6-8	17960 Chase St.	Northridge	91325	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 678-5100	690	47	14.7	94.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,219							18.9	18.4	2361	64
063132004839	2298	Emerson Middle	Public	6-8	635 Lincoln Ave.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4516	703	28	25	96.0%	11 (1.6%)	29 (4.1%)	633 (90.0%)	26 (3.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$5,221							18.9	19.5	2299	1
062513003742	2299	Mark Twain Junior High	Public	7-8	707 Emerald Ave.	Modesto	95351	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1918	715	32	22.6	92.0%	36 (5.0%)	18 (2.5%)	562 (78.6%)	49 (6.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	46 (6.4%)	$12,321							18.9	14.7	2522	223
061785002199	2300	E. O. Green Junior High	Public	6-8	3739 South C St.	Oxnard	93033	Ventura County	Hueneme Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 986-8750	1,077	54	20.1	79.0%	60 (5.6%)	14 (1.3%)	957 (88.9%)	23 (2.1%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.5%)	16 (1.5%)	$9,696							18.9	19	2329	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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.