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)
061143001259	281	Douglas City Elementary	Public	K-8	100 School Rd.	Douglas City	96024	Trinity County	Douglas City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 623-6350	162	10	16.9	48.8%	109 (67.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.7%)	14 (8.6%)	8 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.4%)								89.7	95.3	142	139
061350001544	282	San Onofre Elementary	Public	K-8	200 Pate Rd.	San Clemente	92672	Orange County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4360	525	29	18	57.1%	284 (54.1%)	29 (5.5%)	152 (29.0%)	10 (1.9%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.1%)	41 (7.8%)	$7,764							89.7	82.6	425	143
063711006295	283	Solvang Elementary	Public	K-8	565 Atterdag Rd.	Solvang	93463	Santa Barbara County	Solvang Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 688-4810	593	32	18.4	38.6%	224 (37.8%)	2 (0.3%)	320 (54.0%)	5 (0.8%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (6.4%)								89.7	90.6	266	17
061647002079	284	Jefferson Academy	Public	K-8	1264 Middleton St.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3700	486	18	27	48.1%	63 (13.0%)	6 (1.2%)	402 (82.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.9%)	$9,417							89.7	84.9	375	91
063375008956	285	Stanley G. Oswalt Academy	Public	K-8	19501 Shadow Oak Dr.	Walnut	91789	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 810-4109	868	35	24.9	58.1%	20 (2.3%)	16 (1.8%)	388 (44.7%)	403 (46.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	37 (4.3%)								89.7	88.1	323	38
062712011001	286	Newcastle Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	8951 Valley View Dr.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Newcastle Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 663-3307	285	11	27	26.0%	208 (73.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (13.7%)	5 (1.8%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (10.2%)	$13,548							89.6	86.1	352	66
060561000512	287	Lone Hill Middle	Public	6-8	700 South Lone Hill	San Dimas	91773	Los Angeles County	Bonita Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 971-8270	912	37	24.7	39.9%	163 (17.9%)	31 (3.4%)	529 (58.0%)	98 (10.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	90 (9.9%)								89.5	82.5	428	141
062637008688	288	Eagle Peak Montessori	Public, Charter	1-8	800 Hutchinson Rd.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 946-0994	293	9	32.5	9.9%	110 (37.5%)	4 (1.4%)	56 (19.1%)	52 (17.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (23.9%)								89.5	89.1	298	10
060363007101	289	Downtown Elementary	Public	K-8	2021 M St.	Bakersfield	93301	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5920	323	15	22	31.3%	105 (32.5%)	13 (4.0%)	180 (55.7%)	14 (4.3%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$8,654							89.4	91.6	248	41
063153009425	290	Bernardo Heights Middle	Public	6-8	12990 Paseo Lucido	San Diego	92128	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 485-4850	1,416	62	23	13.8%	600 (42.4%)	38 (2.7%)	258 (18.2%)	340 (24.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	171 (12.1%)	$6,505							89.4	92.3	225	65

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.