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)
060241013640	791	Discovery Charter II	Public, Charter	K-8	762 Sunset Glen Dr.	San Jose	95123	Santa Clara County	Discovery Charter II District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 300-1358	488	20	24.8	13.5%	162 (33.2%)	24 (4.9%)	109 (22.3%)	118 (24.2%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	70 (14.3%)								64.6	81.5	453	338
060251714429	792	California Connections Academy Monterey Bay	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	108 Whispering Pines Dr. Ste.	Scotts Valley	95066	Santa Cruz County	California Connections Academy Monterey Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(831) 200-3419	476	11	43.1	36.1%	131 (27.5%)	3 (0.6%)	194 (40.8%)	68 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	73 (15.3%)								64.5	73.7	608	184
060178611076	793	The Language Academy of Sacramento	Public, Charter	K-8	2850 49th St.	Sacramento	95817	Sacramento County	The Language Academy of Sacramento District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 277-7137	616	32	19.1	73.9%	19 (3.1%)	10 (1.6%)	575 (93.3%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.3%)								64.5	65.1	778	15
060774009121	794	Castaic Middle	Public	7-8	28900 Hillcrest Pkwy.	Castaic	91384	Los Angeles County	Castaic Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 257-4550	431	20	21.3	47.3%	162 (37.6%)	13 (3.0%)	210 (48.7%)	25 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.6%)	$4,840							64.3	70.6	674	120
060250814423	795	Monarch River Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2293 East Crabtree Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Monarch River Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 754-1442	1,125	34	32.7	45.3%	560 (49.8%)	27 (2.4%)	375 (33.3%)	25 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	133 (11.8%)								64.2	68.3	711	84
060837000814	796	Chico Junior High	Public	6-8	280 Memorial Way	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3066	928	38	24.3	62.8%	396 (42.7%)	15 (1.6%)	354 (38.1%)	61 (6.6%)	8 (0.9%)	7 (0.8%)	81 (8.7%)	$11,564							64.2	71	669	127
060155611883	797	Uncharted Shores Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-9	330 E St.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Uncharted Shores Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-9828	276	13	21.1	51.4%	189 (68.5%)	1 (0.4%)	42 (15.2%)	6 (2.2%)	16 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.0%)								64.2	73.1	619	178
061887002283	798	Fernando Rivera Intermediate	Public	6-8	1255 Southgate Ave.	Daly City	94015	San Mateo County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 991-1225	502	22	22.5	37.1%	13 (2.6%)	8 (1.6%)	109 (21.7%)	346 (68.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.8%)	$12,061							63.9	63.4	808	10
060208408564	799	Temecula Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	35777 Abelia St.	Winchester	92596	Riverside County	Temecula Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 926-6776	1,079	56	19.4	16.7%	412 (38.2%)	46 (4.3%)	361 (33.5%)	121 (11.2%)	2 (0.2%)	8 (0.7%)	129 (12.0%)								63.9	72.8	623	176
062271003416	800	Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12	Public, Alternative	K-12	6701 Balboa Blvd.	Lake Balboa	91406	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 342-6133	587	28	20.6	84.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,554							63.8	60	901	101

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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.