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)
063492005896	1201	Abbott Middle	Public	6-8	600 36th Ave.	San Mateo	94403	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7600	698	40	17.4	57.2%	112 (16.0%)	7 (1.0%)	435 (62.3%)	68 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.3%)	66 (9.5%)	$7,371							48.5	37.2	1557	356
060435000392	1202	Bella Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	22661 Old Alturas Rd.	Bella Vista	96008	Shasta County	Bella Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 549-4415	338	18	19.2	62.1%	231 (68.3%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (18.6%)	6 (1.8%)	7 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (9.2%)	$11,458							48.5	56.6	997	205
060210000092	1203	Joan MacQueen Middle	Public	6-8	2001 Tavern Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-3245	429	23	18.3	39.9%	231 (53.8%)	8 (1.9%)	113 (26.3%)	5 (1.2%)	18 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (12.4%)	$7,359							48.4	56.2	1007	196
060177307601	1204	Plumas Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1425 East Main St.	Quincy	95971	Plumas County	Plumas Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 283-3851	344	19	17.9	59.3%	247 (71.8%)	1 (0.3%)	47 (13.7%)	3 (0.9%)	11 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (9.9%)								48.4	50.6	1148	56
063864014532	1205	Launch Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	7-12	2710 Iris Ave.	San Diego	92154	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 796-7624	581	35	16.4	51.5%	59 (10.2%)	27 (4.6%)	446 (76.8%)	28 (4.8%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	16 (2.8%)								48.4	59.1	934	271
060795000762	1206	Cucamonga Middle	Public	6-8	7611 Hellman Ave.	Rancho Cucamonga	91730	San Bernardino County	Central Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 987-1788	691	33	20.6	76.7%	109 (15.8%)	55 (8.0%)	456 (66.0%)	27 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	42 (6.1%)	$7,858							48.2	51.2	1133	73
062871004463	1207	Lakeview Junior High	Public	7-8	3700 Orcutt Rd.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8600	426	20	21.5	57.5%	101 (23.7%)	6 (1.4%)	276 (64.8%)	13 (3.1%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.7%)	25 (5.9%)	$6,902							48.2	43.8	1349	142
060230404403	1208	Paradise Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	6473 Clark Rd.	Paradise	95969	Butte County	Paradise Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-7277	144	7	20.5	41.7%	116 (80.6%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (10.4%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.6%)								48.2	56	1010	198
063441002774	1209	Brown Junior (Willie L) Middle	Public	6-8	2055 Silver Ave.	San Francisco	94124	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 642-8901	313	20	15.9	55.9%	62 (19.8%)	71 (22.7%)	93 (29.7%)	20 (6.4%)	1 (0.3%)	12 (3.8%)	54 (17.3%)	$6,103							48.1	31.1	1779	570
063384005228	1210	California Middle	Public	7-8	1600 Vallejo Way	Sacramento	95818	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5302	753	42	17.9	68.7%	122 (16.2%)	111 (14.7%)	353 (46.9%)	76 (10.1%)	7 (0.9%)	6 (0.8%)	77 (10.2%)	$7,851							48.1	52.4	1097	113

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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