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)
061488001852	411	James Irvine Intermediate	Public	7-8	10552 Hazard Ave.	Garden Grove	92843	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6551	641	30	21.5	87.5%	20 (3.1%)	1 (0.2%)	318 (49.6%)	288 (44.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	9 (1.4%)	$12,229							83.2	85.3	368	43
062250013943	412	Helen Keller Middle	Public	6-8	7020 East Brittain St.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 421-8851	459	18	25.9	31.2%	62 (13.5%)	15 (3.3%)	340 (74.1%)	11 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.3%)	$7,551							83.2	79.3	510	98
060166011228	413	Heritage K-8 Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1855 East Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Heritage K-8 Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 737-3111	1,328	61	21.6	41.0%	471 (35.5%)	32 (2.4%)	586 (44.1%)	140 (10.5%)	14 (1.1%)	6 (0.5%)	79 (5.9%)								83.1	81.9	441	28
060148913185	414	The Heights Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2710 Alpine Blvd. Ste. E	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	The Heights Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 792-9000	265	9	30.4	13.6%	208 (78.5%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.4%)								83.1	84.3	389	25
062271002960	415	Rudecinda Sepulveda Dodson Middle	Public	6-8	28014 Montereina Dr.	Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 241-1900	1,285	65	19.8	57.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,105							83	83.7	399	16
060453007417	416	Sandpiper Elementary	Public	K-8	801 Redwood Shores Pkwy.	Redwood City	94065	San Mateo County	Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 631-5510	529	23	23	8.3%	131 (24.8%)	8 (1.5%)	70 (13.2%)	221 (41.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	95 (18.0%)	$11,189							83	75.2	579	163
063801012085	417	Valentine Peyton Elementary	Public	K-8	2525 Gold Brook Dr.	Stockton	95212	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7420	826	32	26.2	59.6%	30 (3.6%)	66 (8.0%)	326 (39.5%)	348 (42.1%)	4 (0.5%)	11 (1.3%)	41 (5.0%)	$7,700							83	80.9	469	52
060201411569	418	Nord Country	Public, Charter	K-8	5554 California St.	Chico	95973	Butte County	Nord Country District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3138	211	10	21.7	22.3%	157 (74.4%)	1 (0.5%)	39 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.2%)								82.9	79	516	98
060001609092	419	Pioneer Junior High	Public	7-8	245 West 18th St.	Upland	91784	San Bernardino County	Upland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 949-7770	716	33	21.8	49.0%	238 (33.2%)	38 (5.3%)	349 (48.7%)	60 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	29 (4.1%)	$11,385							82.8	81	463	44
062532003777	420	Clifton Middle	Public	6-8	226 South Ivy Ave.	Monrovia	91016	Los Angeles County	Monrovia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 471-2600	589	26	22.4	42.1%	115 (19.5%)	22 (3.7%)	376 (63.8%)	35 (5.9%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (6.1%)	$7,393							82.8	81.1	461	41

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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

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.