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)
062450009401	101	Thomas Russell Middle	Public	7-8	1500 Escuela Pkwy.	Milpitas	95035	Santa Clara County	Milpitas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 635-2864	795	35	22.6	28.2%	30 (3.8%)	12 (1.5%)	120 (15.1%)	576 (72.5%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	51 (6.4%)	$6,174							96.7	97.1	93	8
061884002277	102	Jefferson	Public	5-8	7500 West Linne Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 835-3053	466	20	23.2	15.9%	85 (18.2%)	10 (2.1%)	129 (27.7%)	212 (45.5%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (5.4%)	$7,283							96.6	93.8	180	78
068450013238	103	Jeffrey Trail Middle	Public	7-8	155 Visions	Irvine	92620	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-5000	1,077	40	27.1	17.8%	165 (15.3%)	21 (1.9%)	111 (10.3%)	677 (62.9%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	99 (9.2%)	$5,257							96.6	97.2	87	16
062970004610	104	Palos Verdes Intermediate	Public	6-8	2161 Via Olivera	Palos Verdes Estates	90274	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 544-4816	700	33	21.3	8.3%	373 (53.3%)	15 (2.1%)	90 (12.9%)	151 (21.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (10.1%)	$5,757							96.6	97.7	71	33
062031002449	105	M. H. Stanley Middle	Public	6-8	3455 School St.	Lafayette	94549	Contra Costa County	Lafayette Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 927-3530	1,064	57	18.6	3.8%	669 (62.9%)	5 (0.5%)	92 (8.6%)	133 (12.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	163 (15.3%)	$12,258							96.5	97.9	60	45
061422001628	106	Masuda (Kazuo) Middle	Public	6-8	17415 Los Jardines West	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4250	736	33	22.1	33.0%	134 (18.2%)	5 (0.7%)	162 (22.0%)	386 (52.4%)	2 (0.3%)	8 (1.1%)	38 (5.2%)	$7,927							96.5	94.9	155	49
060951000965	107	Columbine Elementary	Public	K-8	2240 Road 160	Delano	93215	Kern County	Columbine Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 725-8501	185	9	20.5	50.8%	5 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	162 (87.6%)	15 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)								96.5	94.8	162	55
060744008538	108	Don Juan Avila Middle	Public	6-8	26278 Wood Canyon Dr.	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 362-0348	916	40	22.6	25.1%	444 (48.5%)	9 (1.0%)	173 (18.9%)	185 (20.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	103 (11.2%)	$9,610							96.4	94	173	65
060735000680	109	Canyon Elementary	Public	K-8	187 Pinehurst Rd.	Canyon	94516	Contra Costa County	Canyon Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 376-4671	65	3	21.6	10.8%	38 (58.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (23.1%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (16.9%)	$7,571							96.3			(n/a)
063513005729	110	Iron Horse Middle	Public	6-8	12601 Alcosta Blvd.	San Ramon	94583	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 824-2820	1,009	42	24.1	6.8%	242 (24.0%)	26 (2.6%)	123 (12.2%)	520 (51.5%)	4 (0.4%)	5 (0.5%)	89 (8.8%)	$6,204							96.3	94.3	167	57

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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