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)
062271002902	2511	George Washington Carver Middle	Public	6-8	4410 McKinley Ave.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 846-2900	712	35	20.4	98.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,902							13.9	13.7	2568	57
060206013037	2512	iLEAD Lancaster Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	254 East Avenue K-4	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	iLEAD Lancaster Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 722-4287	741	30	25	74.2%	97 (13.1%)	229 (30.9%)	325 (43.9%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (11.2%)								13.9	13.9	2561	49
063531010991	2513	Manuel Esqueda Elementary	Public	K-8	2240 South Main St.	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 431-1500	892	42	21.2	80.3%	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	874 (98.0%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	$6,529							13.9	14.4	2538	25
060179408578	2514	Options for Youth-San Juan	Public, Charter	7-12	5825 Windmill Way	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	Options for Youth-San Juan District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 485-5111	796	30	26.1	78.8%	274 (34.4%)	112 (14.1%)	300 (37.7%)	18 (2.3%)	6 (0.8%)	4 (0.5%)	70 (8.8%)								13.9	12.5	2615	101
060907007685	2515	West Shores High	Public	7-12	2381 Shore Hawk Ave.	Salton City	92275	Imperial County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 848-1360	520	33	15.8	90.6%	20 (3.8%)	4 (0.8%)	488 (93.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$16,983							13.8	15.9	2468	47
060003601095	2516	American Lakes	Public	K-8	2800 Stonecreek Dr.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5500	665	29	22.9	75.2%	53 (8.0%)	179 (26.9%)	311 (46.8%)	40 (6.0%)	7 (1.1%)	14 (2.1%)	61 (9.2%)	$9,033							13.8	10.8	2681	165
062991007498	2517	Parlier Junior High	Public	7-8	1200 East Parlier Ave.	Parlier	93648	Fresno County	Parlier Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 646-1660	524	25	21.1	97.7%	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	518 (98.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,636							13.8	11.6	2643	126
062223009391	2518	Delta Sierra Middle	Public	7-8	2255 Wagner Heights Rd.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-8510	595	30	19.8	92.9%	35 (5.9%)	105 (17.6%)	260 (43.7%)	145 (24.4%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.5%)	39 (6.6%)	$10,958							13.8	13.1	2588	70
060994013686	2519	Technology Middle	Public	6-8	7165 Burton Ave.	Rohnert Park	94928	Sonoma County	Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 792-4800	426	21	20.4	68.1%	83 (19.5%)	15 (3.5%)	264 (62.0%)	11 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	47 (11.0%)	$7,083							13.8	14.3	2541	22
060174812374	2520	Dr. Lewis Dolphin Stallworth Senior Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1610 East Main St.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Dr. Lewis Dolphin Stallworth Senior Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 948-4511	260	10	26	96.2%	2 (0.8%)	41 (15.8%)	198 (76.2%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.8%)								13.7	6.3	2772	252

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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

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.