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)
060176611314	51	Renaissance Arts Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2558 North San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Renaissance Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 259-5700	454	28	16.3	64.5%	114 (25.1%)	37 (8.1%)	239 (52.6%)	47 (10.4%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)								98	95	150	99
061308007707	52	Willma Cavitt Junior High	Public	7-8	7200 Fuller Dr.	Granite Bay	95746	Placer County	Eureka Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 791-4152	360	15	23.4	6.1%	228 (63.3%)	3 (0.8%)	38 (10.6%)	54 (15.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (10.0%)	$10,173							98	98.2	46	6
064015012571	53	Orchard Hills	Public	K-8	11555 Culver Dr.	Irvine	92602	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2078	1,373	47	29	14.9%	251 (18.3%)	13 (0.9%)	125 (9.1%)	864 (62.9%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.4%)	111 (8.1%)	$9,678							97.9	97.3	85	32
061314010321	54	Chaboya Middle	Public	7-8	3276 Cortona Dr.	San Jose	95135	Santa Clara County	Evergreen Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 270-6900	853	34	24.8	14.4%	48 (5.6%)	10 (1.2%)	102 (12.0%)	649 (76.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	41 (4.8%)	$5,758							97.9	98.1	51	3
060002008444	55	Thomas S. Hart Middle	Public	6-8	4433 Willow Rd.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-3102	1,158	50	23	5.5%	249 (21.5%)	21 (1.8%)	83 (7.2%)	758 (65.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	44 (3.8%)	$6,133							97.9	98	56	1
062487003712	56	Mill Valley Middle	Public	6-8	425 Sycamore Ave.	Mill Valley	94941	Marin County	Mill Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 389-7711	797	49	16.1	8.0%	577 (72.4%)	6 (0.8%)	81 (10.2%)	41 (5.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	89 (11.2%)	$14,099							97.9	97	94	38
060163814334	57	College Preparatory Middle	Public, Charter	5-8	10269 Madrid Way	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	College Preparatory Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 303-2782	394	19	20.6	33.5%	228 (57.9%)	17 (4.3%)	110 (27.9%)	14 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.3%)								97.9	97.1	92	35
060151112515	58	Creekside Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1916 Chamonix Pl.	Olympic Valley	96146	Placer County	Creekside Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 581-1036	235	12	19.2	7.7%	195 (83.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	7 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (12.8%)								97.9	99.5	11	47
060002109291	59	Sunol Glen Elementary	Public	K-8	11601 Main St.	Sunol	94586	Alameda County	Sunol Glen Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 862-2026	268	12	21.4	10.4%	97 (36.2%)	1 (0.4%)	42 (15.7%)	97 (36.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	30 (11.2%)								97.9	97.5	76	17
063417005380	60	Richardson PREP High Middle	Public	6-8	455 South K St.	San Bernardino	92410	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 388-6438	602	25	23.7	86.5%	27 (4.5%)	25 (4.2%)	527 (87.5%)	16 (2.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.8%)	$8,397							97.8	96.3	114	54

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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