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)
060205312302	601	Maria Montessori Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1850 Wildcat Blvd.	Rocklin	95765	Placer County	Maria Montessori Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 630-1510	260	15	17.5	12.3%	128 (49.2%)	2 (0.8%)	59 (22.7%)	35 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	35 (13.5%)								74.4	66.2	759	158
062847014641	602	Online Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	1515 South Bon View Ave.	Ontario	91761	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(909) 418-6436	184	13	14.1	82.1%	6 (3.3%)	11 (6.0%)	150 (81.5%)	11 (6.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.2%)								74.3	52	1110	508
060229814132	603	Sparrow Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	4207 Spring Gardens Rd.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	Sparrow Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 439-6327	399	17	23.1	28.8%	198 (49.6%)	3 (0.8%)	134 (33.6%)	14 (3.5%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	47 (11.8%)								74.3	71.6	649	46
062769004170	604	Arlie F. Hutchinson Middle	Public	6-8	13900 Estero Rd.	La Mirada	90638	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-2945	754	31	24.1	44.0%	91 (12.1%)	19 (2.5%)	507 (67.2%)	109 (14.5%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	23 (3.1%)	$11,329							74.2	75.3	577	27
060002910590	605	Warm Springs Middle	Public	6-8	39245 Calle de Fortuna	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-3503	841	36	23.2	53.9%	236 (28.1%)	49 (5.8%)	397 (47.2%)	71 (8.4%)	3 (0.4%)	8 (1.0%)	75 (8.9%)								74.1	70.6	673	68
062271003102	606	Washington Irving Mid School Math Music and Engr Magnet	Public	6-8	3010 Estara Ave.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 259-3700	695	43	16.2	76.5%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,550							74.1	68.9	701	95
061281002810	607	Boulder Creek Elementary	Public	K-8	505 Springer Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Enterprise Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 224-4140	874	39	22.5	53.4%	579 (66.2%)	13 (1.5%)	112 (12.8%)	67 (7.7%)	21 (2.4%)	1 (0.1%)	81 (9.3%)	$6,136							74.1	68.2	714	107
060003611087	608	Westlake Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2680 Mabry Dr.	Sacramento	95835	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5760	1,247	58	21.5	33.6%	204 (16.4%)	162 (13.0%)	355 (28.5%)	382 (30.6%)	7 (0.6%)	8 (0.6%)	129 (10.3%)	$10,612							74	79	515	93
061374001553	609	Fieldbrook Elementary	Public	K-8	4070 Fieldbrook Rd.	McKinleyville	95519	Humboldt County	Fieldbrook Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 839-3201	108	6	18	34.3%	91 (84.3%)	1 (0.9%)	6 (5.6%)	2 (1.9%)	3 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.6%)	$10,896							74			(n/a)
060217812215	610	Goethe International Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	12500 Braddock Dr.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Goethe International Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 306-3484	393	20	19.3	22.6%	160 (40.7%)	46 (11.7%)	99 (25.2%)	27 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (15.5%)								73.9	84.1	393	217

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.