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)
062759004144	2311	North Monterey County Middle	Public	7-8	10301 Seymour St.	Castroville	95012	Monterey County	North Monterey County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 633-3391	639	33	19.1	88.4%	34 (5.3%)	2 (0.3%)	591 (92.5%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	$9,631							18.5	21.3	2208	103
061155001290	2312	Ducor Union Elementary	Public	K-8	23761 Avenue 56	Ducor	93218	Tulare County	Ducor Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 534-2261	160	8	20	64.4%	8 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	148 (92.5%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)								18.5	16.7	2442	130
060133205108	2313	Village Elementary	Public	K-8	6845 Larchmont Dr.	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1970	456	18	25.9	89.7%	87 (19.1%)	52 (11.4%)	234 (51.3%)	34 (7.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	45 (9.9%)								18.5	12.4	2620	307
064338007026	2314	Jackson Street Elementary	Public	4-8	405 Jackson St.	Yreka	96097	Siskiyou County	Yreka Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 842-3561	424	26	16.5	71.0%	209 (49.3%)	4 (0.9%)	88 (20.8%)	15 (3.5%)	46 (10.8%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (14.2%)	$9,575							18.4	28.8	1868	446
060204214265	2315	Olive Grove Charter - Orcutt/Santa Maria	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5075 Bradley Rd.	Orcutt	93455	Santa Barbara County	Olive Grove Charter - Orcutt/Santa Maria District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 623-1111	141	7	20.7	66.7%	41 (29.1%)	1 (0.7%)	87 (61.7%)	2 (1.4%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.7%)								18.4	19.2	2311	4
063339014640	2316	Hillside Innovation Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	29955 Watson Rd.	Menifee	92585	Riverside County	Romoland Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 926-9244	172	11	15.5	84.9%	12 (7.0%)	20 (11.6%)	118 (68.6%)	10 (5.8%)	2 (1.2%)	1 (0.6%)	8 (4.7%)								18.4	28.1	1900	416
061839002249	2317	Crozier (George W.) Middle	Public	7-8	1210 West Regent St.	Inglewood	90301	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5280	299	16	18.8	91.6%	4 (1.3%)	128 (42.8%)	161 (53.8%)	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)								18.4	16.2	2458	141
060797009345	2318	Central Unified Alternative/Opportunity	Public, Alternative	K-12	2698 North Brawley	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-5230	277	11	24.6	81.2%	30 (10.8%)	27 (9.7%)	198 (71.5%)	15 (5.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	$7,899							18.4			(n/a)
061692003586	2319	Dartmouth Middle	Public	6-8	41535 Mayberry Ave.	Hemet	92544	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-2550	1,112	44	25	83.9%	264 (23.7%)	42 (3.8%)	744 (66.9%)	11 (1.0%)	7 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (3.8%)	$6,793							18.3	15.2	2499	180
063384005280	2320	Sam Brannan Middle	Public	7-8	5301 Elmer Way	Sacramento	95822	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5360	377	17	22.7	82.5%	28 (7.4%)	91 (24.1%)	163 (43.2%)	35 (9.3%)	2 (0.5%)	15 (4.0%)	43 (11.4%)	$9,881							18.3	14.2	2551	231

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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.