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)
063390011496	1441	Salida Middle School - Vella Campus	Public	6-8	5041 Toomes Rd.	Salida	95368	Stanislaus County	Salida Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 545-1633	687	32	21.2	75.4%	116 (16.9%)	19 (2.8%)	477 (69.4%)	42 (6.1%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.9%)	26 (3.8%)	$6,839							40.4	45.7	1291	150
062271014632	1442	Computer Science Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	5010 11th Ave.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(424) 429-4228	855	50	17.2	79.9%	74 (8.7%)	110 (12.9%)	595 (69.6%)	32 (3.7%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (4.6%)								40.4	27.9	1912	470
060001711747	1443	Sitting Bull Academy	Public	K-8	19445 Sitting Bull Rd.	Apple Valley	92308	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 961-8479	1,708	69	24.8	62.1%	508 (29.7%)	86 (5.0%)	991 (58.0%)	39 (2.3%)	9 (0.5%)	12 (0.7%)	63 (3.7%)	$5,647							40.4	38.7	1503	60
061914008859	1444	Julian Junior High	Public	6-8	1704 Cape Horn Ave.	Julian	92036	San Diego County	Julian Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 765-0661	83	5	16.3	65.1%	38 (45.8%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (39.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (9.6%)	$7,447							40.3	39.4	1483	39
061674002107	1445	Martin Luther King Junior Middle	Public	7-8	26890 Holly Hill Ave.	Hayward	94545	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3120	703	31	22.5	87.1%	14 (2.0%)	47 (6.7%)	474 (67.4%)	108 (15.4%)	3 (0.4%)	34 (4.8%)	23 (3.3%)								40.3	47.2	1248	197
061288008833	1446	Rincon Middle	Public	6-8	925 Lehner Ave.	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2491	810	51	15.9	78.6%	108 (13.3%)	10 (1.2%)	618 (76.3%)	34 (4.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	37 (4.6%)	$8,079							40.3	39.9	1462	16
063684006269	1447	Sinaloa Middle	Public	6-8	601 Royal Ave.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6830	707	32	22.1	53.6%	297 (42.0%)	17 (2.4%)	327 (46.3%)	33 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (4.2%)	$7,424							40.2	49.8	1172	275
060657008800	1448	Burton Middle	Public	7-8	1155 North Elderwood St.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Burton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 781-2671	591	27	21.8	80.9%	62 (10.5%)	4 (0.7%)	462 (78.2%)	35 (5.9%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.1%)	$6,795							40.2	40.4	1446	2
060217300858	1449	Feaster (Mae L.) Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	670 Flower St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Feaster (Mae L.) Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 422-8397	1,096	51	21.6	77.3%	39 (3.6%)	16 (1.5%)	1,003 (91.5%)	22 (2.0%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	11 (1.0%)								40.2	41.1	1427	22
060429013779	1450	21st Century Learning Institute	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	939 East 10th St.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 769-8424	336	11	30.5	72.0%	72 (21.4%)	18 (5.4%)	207 (61.6%)	12 (3.6%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (6.5%)	$7,891							40.2	29.2	1846	396

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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