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)
060182710720	2111	Bay Area Technology	Public, Charter	6-12	8251 Fontaine St.	Oakland	94605	Alameda County	Bay Area Technology District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 382-9932	309	12	26.2	80.3%	3 (1.0%)	58 (18.8%)	227 (73.5%)	5 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.5%)								23.3	18.3	2363	252
060962001000	2112	Walton Middle	Public	7-8	900 West Greenleaf Ave.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6060	154	8	19	92.9%	0 (0.0%)	27 (17.5%)	123 (79.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.3%)								23.3	19.4	2304	192
060175514027	2113	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	701 105th Ave.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 775-0255	739	47	15.7	89.3%	1 (0.1%)	90 (12.2%)	590 (79.8%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.8%)	44 (6.0%)								23.2	18.4	2359	246
063697008987	2114	Pinon Mesa Middle	Public	6-8	9298 Sheep Creek Rd.	Phelan	92329	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 868-3126	812	38	21.5	67.4%	245 (30.2%)	10 (1.2%)	463 (57.0%)	10 (1.2%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	77 (9.5%)	$7,502							23.2	24.1	2096	18
064074012088	2115	Vallejo Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2833 Tennessee St.	Vallejo	94591	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8620	415	16	25.7	71.8%	37 (8.9%)	92 (22.2%)	200 (48.2%)	59 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	21 (5.1%)								23.2	28.5	1876	239
061455010488	2116	Hamilton Elementary	Public	K-8	102 East Clinton	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7370	798	43	18.5	86.2%	86 (10.8%)	50 (6.3%)	611 (76.6%)	13 (1.6%)	8 (1.0%)	3 (0.4%)	26 (3.3%)	$8,720							23.2	19.1	2317	201
062271014635	2117	Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1254 East Helmick St.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(424) 444-0488	894	51	17.6	81.2%	56 (6.3%)	122 (13.6%)	658 (73.6%)	15 (1.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (4.5%)								23.1	18	2372	255
062271003445	2118	Daniel Webster Middle	Public	6-8	11330 West Graham Pl.	Los Angeles	90064	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 235-4600	471	26	18	82.4%	36 (7.6%)	97 (20.6%)	317 (67.3%)	8 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.8%)	$19,947							23.1	16.3	2457	339
060001609096	2119	Upland Junior High	Public	7-8	444 East 11th St.	Upland	91785	San Bernardino County	Upland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 949-7810	637	31	20.5	91.5%	39 (6.1%)	60 (9.4%)	491 (77.1%)	24 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.8%)	$11,825							23.1	33.9	1671	448
063667006216	2120	Tomales Elementary	Public	K-8	40 John St.	Tomales	94971	Marin County	Shoreline Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 878-2214	153	10	15.3	73.9%	53 (34.6%)	0 (0.0%)	99 (64.7%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								23	31.1	1781	339

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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