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)
062847004395	231	Edison Elementary	Public	K-8	515 East Sixth St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 984-5618	680	28	24	67.5%	72 (10.6%)	13 (1.9%)	521 (76.6%)	49 (7.2%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	18 (2.6%)	$6,459							91.8	92.7	213	18
060161911444	232	KIPP Heartwood Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	KIPP Heartwood Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 926-5477	415	26	15.7	70.4%	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	289 (69.6%)	117 (28.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)								91.8	93	205	27
063492005916	233	Parkside Montessori	Public	K-8	1685 Eisenhower St.	San Mateo	94402	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7575	328	16	20.6	11.9%	116 (35.4%)	3 (0.9%)	79 (24.1%)	85 (25.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	44 (13.4%)	$11,509							91.8	92.1	235	2
062450003670	234	Rancho Milpitas Middle	Public	7-8	1915 Yellowstone Ave.	Milpitas	95035	Santa Clara County	Milpitas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 635-2656	660	33	19.8	36.5%	38 (5.8%)	16 (2.4%)	167 (25.3%)	379 (57.4%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (0.9%)	53 (8.0%)	$6,584							91.8	89	299	65
068450008252	235	Plaza Vista	Public	K-8	670 Paseo Westpark	Irvine	92606	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6955	795	31	25.6	17.4%	165 (20.8%)	8 (1.0%)	131 (16.5%)	430 (54.1%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	58 (7.3%)	$5,935							91.7	90.9	260	25
061350001543	236	Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary	Public	K-8	110 Marine Dr.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4050	803	38	21.1	56.9%	397 (49.4%)	57 (7.1%)	240 (29.9%)	9 (1.1%)	5 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	92 (11.5%)	$6,395							91.7	88.1	324	88
061389008577	237	Sutter Middle	Public	6-8	715 Riley St.	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9035	1,552	62	25	14.9%	656 (42.3%)	33 (2.1%)	237 (15.3%)	468 (30.2%)	3 (0.2%)	4 (0.3%)	150 (9.7%)	$5,999							91.7	88.9	305	68
060885000897	238	Clay Elementary	Public	K-8	12449 South Smith Ave.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Clay Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-4185	241	9	26.7	19.9%	151 (62.7%)	2 (0.8%)	78 (32.4%)	5 (2.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.2%)	$10,295							91.6	90.1	278	40
063066009177	239	Travis Ranch	Public	K-8	5200 Via de la Escuela	Yorba Linda	92887	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7460	1,217	51	23.9	22.9%	597 (49.1%)	7 (0.6%)	304 (25.0%)	214 (17.6%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.5%)	85 (7.0%)	$5,997							91.6	92.5	220	19
060780006909	240	Creekside Middle	Public	6-8	19722 Center St.	Castro Valley	94546	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 247-0665	760	35	21.8	32.5%	176 (23.2%)	28 (3.7%)	132 (17.4%)	308 (40.5%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	110 (14.5%)	$5,697							91.5	93.2	201	39

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.