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)
063432005411	1841	Audubon K-8	Public	K-8	8111 San Vicente	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-5800	452	21	21.5	83.8%	17 (3.8%)	31 (6.9%)	352 (77.9%)	27 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	22 (4.9%)	$8,960							29.2	30.4	1805	36
063276005092	1842	Rio Real Elementary	Public	K-8	1140 Kenney St.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 485-3117	744	33	22.8	62.0%	15 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	724 (97.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$6,632							29.2	38.2	1523	319
062250002708	1843	Jessie Nelson Academy	Public	6-8	1951 Cherry Ave.	Signal Hill	90755	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 591-6041	834	34	24.6	70.3%	14 (1.7%)	101 (12.1%)	515 (61.8%)	173 (20.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (3.6%)	$7,699							29.2	30.2	1811	32
060636000553	1844	Buena Park Middle	Public	6-8	6931 Orangethorpe Ave.	Buena Park	90620	Orange County	Buena Park Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 522-8491	705	38	18.3	86.2%	29 (4.1%)	35 (5.0%)	555 (78.7%)	66 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.6%)	$7,674							29.2	27.8	1920	76
064116006797	1845	Ivanhoe Elementary	Public	K-8	16030 Avenue 332	Ivanhoe	93235	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7849	535	24	22.4	89.0%	18 (3.4%)	3 (0.6%)	500 (93.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.4%)	$7,744							29.2	33	1700	145
062775004201	1846	Nuestro Elementary	Public	K-8	3934 Broadway Rd.	Live Oak	95953	Sutter County	Nuestro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-5100	184	9	20.4	41.8%	96 (52.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (28.8%)	13 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (12.0%)	$11,450							29.2	42.5	1388	458
060251114421	1847	Garvey/Allen Visual & Performing Arts Academy for STEM	Public, Charter	5-8	23750 Alessandro Blvd.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Garvey/Allen Visual & Perf Arts Academy for STEM District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 384-2015	157	7	22.5	72.0%	1 (0.6%)	111 (70.7%)	31 (19.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	2 (1.3%)	8 (5.1%)								29.2	26.1	1990	143
061288001457	1848	Hidden Valley Middle	Public	6-8	2700 Reed Rd.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2457	808	47	17.2	87.1%	32 (4.0%)	11 (1.4%)	719 (89.0%)	28 (3.5%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.0%)	$8,028							29.1	24	2101	253
064158014575	1849	Washington Unified Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	1100 Clarendon St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 375-7600	83	10	8.7	85.5%	14 (16.9%)	6 (7.2%)	39 (47.0%)	13 (15.7%)	1 (1.2%)	2 (2.4%)	8 (9.6%)								29.1	20.6	2236	387
060962001002	1850	Whaley Middle	Public	6-8	14401 South Gibson Ave.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6070	473	20	23.9	62.8%	0 (0.0%)	43 (9.1%)	429 (90.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								29.1	39.5	1475	375

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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