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)
064233006925	931	Bear River	Public	4-8	100 Wheatland Park Dr.	Wheatland	95692	Yuba County	Wheatland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 633-3135	564	32	17.4	60.1%	302 (53.5%)	3 (0.5%)	180 (31.9%)	15 (2.7%)	3 (0.5%)	7 (1.2%)	54 (9.6%)	$8,848							58	60.9	874	57
061146001265	932	Doty (Wendy Lopour) Middle	Public	6-8	10301 South Woodruff Ave.	Downey	90241	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3586	1,322	49	26.9	66.6%	83 (6.3%)	28 (2.1%)	1,154 (87.3%)	33 (2.5%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.4%)	17 (1.3%)	$12,490							57.9	56.7	993	61
062958002169	933	Palmdale Learning Plaza	Public	K-8	38043 Division St.	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 538-9034	803	35	22.9	79.6%	62 (7.7%)	93 (11.6%)	599 (74.6%)	10 (1.2%)	6 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (4.1%)	$415							57.9	54.2	1053	120
060231011793	934	Adelante Dual Language Academy	Public	K-8	2999 Ridgemont Dr.	San Jose	95127	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-1900	498	25	20.1	57.0%	6 (1.2%)	3 (0.6%)	482 (96.8%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$14,108							57.8	61	871	63
062271002897	935	Caroldale Learning Community	Public	K-8	22424 Caroldale Ave.	Carson	90745	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 320-8570	646	32	20	76.3%	15 (2.3%)	51 (7.9%)	320 (49.5%)	173 (26.8%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.5%)	70 (10.8%)	$9,380							57.8	59.1	932	3
063462005753	936	Arden Middle	Public	6-8	1640 Watt Ave.	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7306	956	40	24.1	41.1%	478 (50.0%)	52 (5.4%)	252 (26.4%)	86 (9.0%)	4 (0.4%)	8 (0.8%)	75 (7.8%)	$6,278							57.8	64.4	785	151
063207004932	937	Cope Middle	Public	6-8	1000 West Cypress Ave.	Redlands	92373	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-5420	1,218	57	21.2	63.4%	258 (21.2%)	93 (7.6%)	617 (50.7%)	157 (12.9%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.6%)	85 (7.0%)	$6,031							57.7	62.6	829	108
062814004350	938	Vista View Middle	Public	6-8	16250 Hickory St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Ocean View	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 842-0626	660	30	21.9	81.4%	63 (9.5%)	4 (0.6%)	396 (60.0%)	167 (25.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	26 (3.9%)	$5,160							57.7	61.1	868	70
062244002692	939	Lo-Inyo Elementary	Public	K-8	223 East Locust St.	Lone Pine	93545	Inyo County	Lone Pine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 876-5581	195	11	17.5	68.7%	38 (19.5%)	0 (0.0%)	115 (59.0%)	3 (1.5%)	18 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (10.8%)	$9,457							57.7	41.9	1402	463
064065006713	940	Dean L. Shively	Public	6-8	1431 North Central Ave.	South El Monte	91733	Los Angeles County	Valle Lindo Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 580-0610	298	13	22.3	81.5%	3 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	277 (93.0%)	17 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,744							57.7	61.7	859	81

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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:

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

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

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