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)
060150212043	1071	Making Waves Academy	Public, Charter	5-12	4123 Lakeside Dr.	Richmond	94806	Contra Costa County	Making Waves Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 262-1511	1,124	69	16.3	83.5%	15 (1.3%)	86 (7.7%)	966 (85.9%)	35 (3.1%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (1.7%)								52.9	44.2	1338	267
060217010698	1072	Connecting Waters Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12420 Bentley St.	Waterford	95386	Stanislaus County	Connecting Waters Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1119	762	70	10.8	52.9%	302 (39.6%)	14 (1.8%)	302 (39.6%)	53 (7.0%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	83 (10.9%)								52.8	40.3	1447	375
061077001199	1073	Smith River Elementary	Public	K-8	134 First St.	Smith River	95567	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0370	245	11	22.3	70.2%	64 (26.1%)	2 (0.8%)	122 (49.8%)	4 (1.6%)	39 (15.9%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.7%)	$13,976							52.8	49.7	1175	102
061437001652	1074	Stonegate Elementary	Public	K-8	2605 Gassmann Dr.	San Jose	95121	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5625	537	27	20.2	47.7%	12 (2.2%)	7 (1.3%)	288 (53.6%)	221 (41.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.3%)								52.8	56.6	998	76
062271003127	1075	Laurel Elementary	Public	K-8	925 North Hayworth Ave.	Los Angeles	90046	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 654-1930	238	14	17	85.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,609							52.8	42.9	1374	299
060263000191	1076	Walker Junior High	Public	7-8	8132 Walker St.	La Palma	90623	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-4051	846	43	19.5	61.5%	123 (14.5%)	30 (3.5%)	410 (48.5%)	221 (26.1%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	52 (6.1%)	$11,851							52.8	56.2	1006	70
062724004110	1077	Costa Mesa High	Public	7-12	2650 Fairview Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-8700	1,776	91	19.5	75.2%	298 (16.8%)	30 (1.7%)	1,222 (68.8%)	114 (6.4%)	4 (0.2%)	25 (1.4%)	81 (4.6%)								52.8	52.3	1099	22
062250002727	1078	Jefferson Leadership Academies	Public	6-8	750 Euclid Ave.	Long Beach	90804	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 438-9904	997	41	24.5	70.8%	43 (4.3%)	161 (16.1%)	671 (67.3%)	85 (8.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (3.5%)	$7,381							52.8	50.7	1143	65
062079002494	1079	Lakeside Middle	Public	6-8	11833 Woodside Ave.	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	Lakeside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 390-2636	676	31	21.7	32.4%	350 (51.8%)	20 (3.0%)	237 (35.1%)	24 (3.6%)	7 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	35 (5.2%)	$7,748							52.7	53.2	1076	3
062958008728	1080	Los Amigos - Dual Immersion	Public	K-8	6640 East Avenue R-8	Palmdale	93552	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 285-1546	975	37	26.3	79.1%	20 (2.1%)	19 (1.9%)	919 (94.3%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.7%)	$516							52.7	54.9	1035	45

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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

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.