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)
063987009647	1371	Live Oak Middle	Public	7-8	980 North Laspina St.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 685-7310	383	20	18.8	71.3%	83 (21.7%)	12 (3.1%)	270 (70.5%)	8 (2.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)	$10,897							42.9	35.8	1604	233
061632002031	1372	Guerneville Elementary (Charter)	Public, Charter	K-8	14630 Armstrong Woods Rd.	Guerneville	95446	Sonoma County	Guerneville Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 869-2864	213	11	19.2	62.4%	117 (54.9%)	1 (0.5%)	77 (36.2%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.0%)	$12,671							42.9	38.4	1514	142
060231512450	1373	Wonderful College Prep Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2070 Veneto St.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Wonderful College Prep Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-2887	1,900	87	21.8	78.5%	28 (1.5%)	6 (0.3%)	1,802 (94.8%)	59 (3.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.2%)								42.9	49.7	1176	197
062271013198	1374	Sylmar Leadership Academy	Public	K-8	14550 Bledsoe St.	Sylmar	91342	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 367-1300	845	42	20.1	81.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,633							42.8	59.6	923	451
061734002182	1375	Sunnyslope Elementary	Public	K-8	1475 Memorial Dr.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4420	640	28	22.8	58.0%	53 (8.3%)	6 (0.9%)	547 (85.5%)	17 (2.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.3%)	$7,469							42.7	24.9	2055	680
060246311927	1376	Rocky Point Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	3500 Tamarack Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Rocky Point Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 225-0456	159	9	17.6	74.2%	99 (62.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (18.9%)	2 (1.3%)	7 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (13.2%)								42.7	31.2	1776	400
062271003087	1377	Hollenbeck Middle	Public	6-8	2510 East Sixth St.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 780-3000	1,007	56	17.9	95.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,467							42.6	38.9	1499	122
062313003530	1378	Luther Burbank Elementary	Public	K-8	4 Wabash Ave.	San Jose	95128	Santa Clara County	Luther Burbank	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 295-1814	422	20	21.2	82.9%	6 (1.4%)	10 (2.4%)	387 (91.7%)	14 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	$10,399							42.6	55.2	1027	351
061288011128	1379	Bear Valley Middle	Public	6-8	3003 Bear Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-4060	938	54	17.4	66.2%	217 (23.1%)	9 (1.0%)	622 (66.3%)	39 (4.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (5.2%)	$7,667							42.5	50.7	1142	237
061605011210	1380	McKee Middle	Public	6-8	205 McKee Rd.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Greenfield Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 837-6060	1,107	52	21.4	92.8%	65 (5.9%)	47 (4.2%)	976 (88.2%)	13 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.5%)	$7,100							42.5	44.4	1331	49

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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:

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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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