Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
060002009682	211	Pleasanton Middle	Public	6-8	5001 Case Ave.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4390	1,050	48	21.6	11.7%	311 (29.6%)	25 (2.4%)	174 (16.6%)	464 (44.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.5%)	70 (6.7%)	$6,062							92.7	92.9	210	1
060229002633	212	Discovery Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1100 Camino Biscay	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Discovery Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 656-0797	982	40	24.5	33.5%	80 (8.1%)	31 (3.2%)	671 (68.3%)	138 (14.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	56 (5.7%)								92.7	95.8	125	87
062256002771	213	Franklin Elementary	Public	K-8	7050 Franklin School Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1818	469	21	22.1	10.7%	361 (77.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (11.3%)	15 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (8.5%)	$6,556							92.7	90.6	267	54
063942006564	214	Bert M. Lynn Middle	Public	6-8	5038 Halison St.	Torrance	90503	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4495	553	27	20.5	19.7%	111 (20.1%)	21 (3.8%)	117 (21.2%)	257 (46.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	46 (8.3%)	$5,103							92.6	93.3	196	18
061422001634	215	Talbert (Samuel E.) Middle	Public	6-8	9101 Brabham Dr.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4220	712	34	20.6	18.7%	350 (49.2%)	8 (1.1%)	155 (21.8%)	117 (16.4%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	77 (10.8%)	$8,450							92.6	93.3	197	18
061221001389	216	El Segundo Middle	Public	6-8	332 Center St.	El Segundo	90245	Los Angeles County	El Segundo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 615-2690	819	37	21.8	9.6%	364 (44.4%)	27 (3.3%)	195 (23.8%)	87 (10.6%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	143 (17.5%)	$8,702							92.4	93.8	182	34
060744000696	217	Niguel Hills Middle	Public	6-8	29070 Shark Bay	Laguna Niguel	92677	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5360	721	37	19.3	43.3%	401 (55.6%)	6 (0.8%)	226 (31.3%)	35 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	51 (7.1%)	$10,704							92.4	91.6	249	32
061632502056	218	Mesa Robles	Public	K-8	16060 Mesa Robles Dr.	Hacienda Heights	91745	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-6000	1,147	43	26.6	50.0%	44 (3.8%)	7 (0.6%)	420 (36.6%)	641 (55.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (3.1%)								92.4	90.9	259	41
061029009356	219	Christa McAuliffe	Public	K-8	12211 Titus Ave.	Saratoga	95070	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 253-4696	402	18	22.1	12.7%	123 (30.6%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (6.5%)	197 (49.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (12.9%)	$7,781							92.4	98.8	24	195
063213004963	220	Roy Cloud Elementary	Public	K-8	3790 Red Oak Way	Redwood City	94061	San Mateo County	Redwood City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 482-2414	633	30	21.3	16.1%	371 (58.6%)	3 (0.5%)	136 (21.5%)	60 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	59 (9.3%)								92.3	93.9	178	42

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

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

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.