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)
063417005387	2531	Shandin Hills Middle	Public	6-8	4301 Little Mountain Dr.	San Bernardino	92407	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 880-6666	751	40	18.9	89.7%	43 (5.7%)	103 (13.7%)	573 (76.3%)	7 (0.9%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (2.7%)								13.4	13.1	2587	56
064158006859	2532	Westmore Oaks Elementary	Public	K-8	1100 Clarendon St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7730	539	27	20.3	91.7%	132 (24.5%)	28 (5.2%)	239 (44.3%)	99 (18.4%)	4 (0.7%)	3 (0.6%)	33 (6.1%)	$7,539							13.4	15.3	2495	37
063432005539	2533	Riley/New Dawn	Public, Alternative	K-12	5650 Mt. Ackerly Dr.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 302-3340	135	21	6.4	76.3%	29 (21.5%)	21 (15.6%)	64 (47.4%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (14.1%)	$33,646							13.4	20.3	2257	276
061686013836	2534	Independence Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	15350 Riverview Rd.	Helendale	92342	San Bernardino County	Helendale Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 952-1760	131	7	18.2	68.7%	46 (35.1%)	4 (3.1%)	72 (55.0%)	1 (0.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.3%)								13.3	19.1	2318	216
063531005992	2535	Julia C. Lathrop Intermediate	Public	6-8	1111 South Broadway	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 567-3300	742	43	17.2	83.2%	9 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	718 (96.8%)	8 (1.1%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	$7,422							13.3	14.7	2524	11
062250007299	2536	Avalon K-12	Public, Alternative	K-12	200 Falls Canyon Rd.	Avalon	90704	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 510-0790	451	30	15	52.3%	78 (17.3%)	0 (0.0%)	364 (80.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.8%)	$15,601							13.3	19.7	2289	247
060174614230	2537	Mission Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	43141 Business Center Pkwy Ste	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Mission Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(844) 788-3965	384	16	23.7	80.5%	64 (16.7%)	41 (10.7%)	235 (61.2%)	11 (2.9%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.5%)								13.1	21.2	2212	325
061336001527	2538	E. Ruth Sheldon Academy of Innovative Learning	Public	K-8	1901 Woolner Ave.	Fairfield	94533	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 421-4150	510	17	29.9	74.5%	24 (4.7%)	49 (9.6%)	373 (73.1%)	29 (5.7%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	31 (6.1%)	$6,002							13.1	11.5	2652	114
062827014449	2539	Summit	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	12525 Ojai-Santa Paula Rd.	Ojai	93023	Ventura County	Ojai Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 640-4300	149	5	28.6	40.3%	109 (73.2%)	3 (2.0%)	23 (15.4%)	3 (2.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.0%)								13.1			(n/a)
060220802893	2540	Oakland Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	4215 Foothill Blvd.	Oakland	94601	Alameda County	Oakland Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 532-6751	226	5	46.1	85.0%	14 (6.2%)	9 (4.0%)	196 (86.7%)	4 (1.8%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)								13.1	14.3	2545	5

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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