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)
060186612324	1411	New Los Angeles Charter	Public, Charter	6-8	1919 South Burnside Ave.	Los Angeles	90016	Los Angeles County	New Los Angeles Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 939-6400	325	14	22.4	78.8%	4 (1.2%)	35 (10.8%)	279 (85.8%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)								41.4	38.1	1526	115
063501011786	1412	Cappy Culver Elementary	Public	K-8	11011 Heritage Ranch Loop Rd.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	San Miguel Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 227-1040	214	11	19.5	47.2%	146 (68.2%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (26.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	1 (0.5%)	7 (3.3%)	$8,332							41.4	27.5	1930	518
060002710281	1413	Luiseno	Public	K-8	13500 Mountain Rd.	Corona	92883	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7480	838	38	22.1	52.5%	225 (26.8%)	48 (5.7%)	493 (58.8%)	25 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (5.5%)	$7,325							41.3	33	1699	286
062022002422	1414	Pescadero Elementary and Middle	Public	K-8	620 North St.	Pescadero	94060	San Mateo County	La Honda-Pescadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 879-0332	119	9	12.9	49.6%	29 (24.4%)	0 (0.0%)	89 (74.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,946							41.3	28.1	1901	487
062769007123	1415	Los Alisos Middle	Public	6-8	14800 South Jersey Ave.	Norwalk	90650	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-3495	1,011	40	25.3	76.8%	32 (3.2%)	16 (1.6%)	892 (88.2%)	39 (3.9%)	6 (0.6%)	4 (0.4%)	22 (2.2%)	$12,009							41.3	43.5	1359	56
060203013874	1416	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory	Public, Charter	K-8	2950 Fair Oaks Ave.	Redwood City	94063	San Mateo County	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 465-5477	702	37	18.9	89.7%	8 (1.1%)	5 (0.7%)	666 (94.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	15 (2.1%)	3 (0.4%)								41.3	45.2	1309	107
060962000991	1417	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-8	14431 Stanford Ave.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6320	358	15	23.9	94.4%	2 (0.6%)	107 (29.9%)	238 (66.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	8 (2.2%)								41.2	37.2	1553	136
063678006229	1418	Loyalton High	Public	7-12	700 Fourth St.	Loyalton	96118	Sierra County	Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 993-4454	154	11	13.9	35.1%	117 (76.0%)	2 (1.3%)	23 (14.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (6.5%)	$16,653							41.2	52.7	1088	330
060363000292	1419	Chipman Junior High	Public	7-8	2905 Eissler St.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5210	719	32	22.6	83.2%	113 (15.7%)	43 (6.0%)	539 (75.0%)	10 (1.4%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.4%)	$7,349							41.2	36	1594	175
060423000382	1420	Big Bear Middle	Public	6-8	41275 Big Bear Blvd.	Big Bear Lake	92315	San Bernardino County	Bear Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 866-4634	494	22	22	66.4%	252 (51.0%)	4 (0.8%)	210 (42.5%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (4.3%)	$6,462							41.1	38.5	1512	92

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.