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)
062241002690	1571	Vandenberg Middle	Public	7-8	Mountain View Blvd.	Lompoc	93437	Santa Barbara County	Lompoc Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 742-2700	594	29	20.4	52.0%	187 (31.5%)	13 (2.2%)	324 (54.5%)	23 (3.9%)	7 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	37 (6.2%)	$8,493							36.8	52.8	1087	484
062271002878	1572	Richard E. Byrd Middle	Public	6-8	8501 Arleta Ave.	Sun Valley	91352	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 394-4300	1,105	54	20.6	93.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,970							36.7	31.2	1777	205
062619003918	1573	Monte Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	11111 Thienes Ave.	El Monte	91733	Los Angeles County	Mountain View Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 652-4650	839	39	21.4	80.3%	8 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	786 (93.7%)	44 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)								36.7	34.9	1634	61
062271010863	1574	International Studies Learning Center at Legacy High School Complex	Public	6-12	5225 Tweedy Blvd.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 357-7521	928	41	22.5	89.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,223							36.7	32.3	1731	157
060210007300	1575	Mountain View Learning Academy	Public	K-8	8770 Harbison Canyon Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 659-2854	89	4	22.2	39.3%	52 (58.4%)	1 (1.1%)	32 (36.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.4%)	$4,732							36.6			(n/a)
061668002100	1576	Bud Carson Middle	Public	6-8	13838 South Yukon Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 676-1908	678	28	24.2	63.1%	6 (0.9%)	229 (33.8%)	410 (60.5%)	14 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.2%)	11 (1.6%)	$8,604							36.6	36.6	1571	5
061392009137	1577	Southridge Technical Middle	Public	6-8	14500 Live Oak Ave.	Fontana	92337	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5420	921	44	21.1	72.0%	38 (4.1%)	54 (5.9%)	791 (85.9%)	31 (3.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.7%)								36.5	41.5	1414	163
063795006396	1578	Prescott Junior High	Public	7-8	2243 West Rumble Rd.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Stanislaus Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 529-9892	739	37	20	75.9%	130 (17.6%)	20 (2.7%)	428 (57.9%)	80 (10.8%)	4 (0.5%)	10 (1.4%)	66 (8.9%)	$10,992							36.4	40.2	1453	125
060223813531	1579	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	1-12	951 Palisade St.	Hayward	94542	Alameda County	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 370-3334	553	25	22.5	26.0%	86 (15.6%)	28 (5.1%)	264 (47.7%)	91 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	78 (14.1%)								36.4	36.5	1574	5
060240112941	1580	Trivium Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1550 South College Dr.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Trivium Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 291-1303	321	18	18	23.7%	181 (56.4%)	6 (1.9%)	103 (32.1%)	6 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (7.5%)								36.4	44.6	1323	257

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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