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)
060795001117	921	Ruth Musser Middle	Public	5-8	10789 Terra Vista Pkwy.	Rancho Cucamonga	91730	San Bernardino County	Central Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 980-1230	945	39	24.2	68.5%	151 (16.0%)	150 (15.9%)	449 (47.5%)	124 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	69 (7.3%)	$7,722							58.3	68.1	719	202
060234613887	922	Oakland Unity Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1180 70th Ave.	Oakland	94621	Alameda County	Oakland Unity Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 564-4851	125	3	44	98.4%	2 (1.6%)	6 (4.8%)	91 (72.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (20.0%)								58.3	47.2	1250	328
061743002186	923	Holtville Middle	Public	6-8	800 Beale Ave.	Holtville	92250	Imperial County	Holtville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 356-2811	246	17	14.2	89.4%	5 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	238 (96.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)								58.3	51.9	1114	191
060999001086	924	West Cottonwood Junior High	Public	5-8	20512 West First St.	Cottonwood	96022	Shasta County	Cottonwood Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 347-3123	395	23	17.5	51.6%	266 (67.3%)	2 (0.5%)	80 (20.3%)	5 (1.3%)	15 (3.8%)	1 (0.3%)	26 (6.6%)	$8,358							58.3	59.6	920	4
062569009157	925	Campus Canyon Elementary	Public	K-8	15300 Monroe Ave.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-6301	575	25	23.4	33.2%	209 (36.3%)	6 (1.0%)	294 (51.1%)	36 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	28 (4.9%)	$5,489							58.2	58.2	955	30
060154013591	926	Environmental Charter Middle - Inglewood	Public, Charter	6-8	3600 West Imperial Hwy.	Inglewood	90303	Los Angeles County	Environmental Charter Middle - Inglewood District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 793-0157	354	16	22	87.3%	0 (0.0%)	31 (8.8%)	315 (89.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.4%)								58.2	58.1	963	37
064158012071	927	Stonegate Elementary	Public	K-8	2500 La Jolla St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7600	934	40	23.1	38.9%	332 (35.5%)	34 (3.6%)	298 (31.9%)	131 (14.0%)	6 (0.6%)	11 (1.2%)	121 (13.0%)	$6,260							58.1	59.6	924	3
060002809505	928	Margarita Middle	Public	6-8	30600 Margarita Rd.	Temecula	92591	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 695-7370	741	34	22	53.7%	251 (33.9%)	25 (3.4%)	350 (47.2%)	56 (7.6%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	54 (7.3%)	$9,954							58.1	60.6	886	42
060133208952	929	Ridgepoint Elementary	Public	K-8	4680 Monument Dr.	Sacramento	95842	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1950	667	27	25	85.8%	180 (27.0%)	82 (12.3%)	234 (35.1%)	75 (11.2%)	5 (0.7%)	9 (1.3%)	81 (12.1%)								58.1	52.6	1092	163
061209001350	930	Gidley Elementary	Public	K-8	10226 East Lower Azusa Rd.	El Monte	91731	Los Angeles County	El Monte City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 575-2323	456	25	18.1	85.3%	9 (2.0%)	3 (0.7%)	345 (75.7%)	94 (20.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	$7,383							58	61.1	870	60

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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.