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)
061692011019	2461	Diamond Valley Middle	Public	6-8	291 West Chambers St.	Hemet	92543	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 925-2899	1,078	47	22.7	90.6%	132 (12.2%)	117 (10.9%)	745 (69.1%)	20 (1.9%)	9 (0.8%)	6 (0.6%)	49 (4.5%)	$6,894							15.3	12.9	2599	138
062085002503	2462	Mountain View Middle	Public	7-8	8001 Weedpatch Hwy.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Lamont Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 845-2291	613	29	21.3	83.4%	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	604 (98.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$5,916							15.3	17.6	2401	61
060681000615	2463	Greenfield Middle	Public	6-8	1495 Greenfield Dr.	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3103	663	33	20.1	83.6%	223 (33.6%)	47 (7.1%)	323 (48.7%)	27 (4.1%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.2%)	34 (5.1%)	$11,399							15.3	16.1	2463
062271003340	2464	Francisco Sepulveda Middle	Public	6-8	15330 Plummer St.	North Hills	91343	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 920-2130	1,054	60	17.5	96.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,289							15.3	15.9	2469	5
062910004489	2465	The Studios @ Central	Public	5-8	2565 Mesa Ave.	Oroville	95966	Butte County	Oroville City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 532-3002	348	18	19.3	80.5%	149 (42.8%)	10 (2.9%)	74 (21.3%)	57 (16.4%)	9 (2.6%)	1 (0.3%)	48 (13.8%)	$7,824							15.2	15.8	2476	11
060222000098	2466	Alta Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	2293 East Crabtree Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Alta Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-5700	495	22	22.2	91.3%	47 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	427 (86.3%)	3 (0.6%)	3 (0.6%)	11 (2.2%)	4 (0.8%)	$11,796							15.2	16.5	2447	19
060003608582	2467	Natomas Middle	Public	6-8	3200 North Park Dr.	Sacramento	95835	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5540	662	36	18.5	65.0%	40 (6.0%)	232 (35.0%)	173 (26.1%)	116 (17.5%)	2 (0.3%)	20 (3.0%)	78 (11.8%)	$7,526							15.1	21.3	2210	257
062637003944	2468	El Dorado Middle	Public	6-8	1750 West St.	Concord	94521	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 682-5700	832	33	25	71.4%	118 (14.2%)	24 (2.9%)	518 (62.3%)	67 (8.1%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.8%)	95 (11.4%)	$12,422							15.1	12.4	2619	151
060558009315	2469	El Camino Junior High	Public	7-8	219 West El Camino	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-7800	779	45	17.1	90.9%	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	769 (98.7%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,079							15.1	17.3	2413	56
060243413905	2470	Vista Heritage Global Academy	Public, Charter	6-9	2609 West Fifth St.	Santa Ana	92703	Orange County	Vista Heritage Global Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 988-2719	425	19	22.8	92.0%	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	414 (97.4%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)								15.1	17.9	2384	86

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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.