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)
062256011704	191	Penryn Elementary	Public	K-8	6885 English Colony Way	Penryn	95663	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 663-3993	242	10	23.4	10.7%	212 (87.6%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.0%)	4 (1.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	$7,384							93.7	89.4	289	98
068450007069	192	Venado Middle	Public	7-8	4 Deerfield Ave.	Irvine	92604	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6800	583	26	22.1	20.2%	113 (19.4%)	9 (1.5%)	106 (18.2%)	290 (49.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	63 (10.8%)	$6,412							93.7	92	238	46
061062001177	193	Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High	Public	7-9	2121 Calaveras Ave.	Davis	95616	Yolo County	Davis Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 757-5430	485	30	16	12.8%	250 (51.5%)	12 (2.5%)	103 (21.2%)	56 (11.5%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	54 (11.1%)								93.6	95.3	141	52
064015008250	194	Pioneer Middle	Public	6-8	2700 Pioneer Rd.	Tustin	92782	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7534	881	32	27.3	23.7%	207 (23.5%)	19 (2.2%)	236 (26.8%)	327 (37.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	89 (10.1%)	$10,057							93.6	93.3	198	4
060015310934	195	Brightwood Elementary	Public	K-8	1701 Brightwood St.	Monterey Park	91754	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3360	794	31	26	33.1%	18 (2.3%)	1 (0.1%)	301 (37.9%)	434 (54.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	38 (4.8%)	$11,523							93.5	95.5	134	61
060221014050	196	Kinetic Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	721 Utica Ave.	Huntington Beach	92648	Orange County	Kinetic Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 465-4565	327	20	16.7	28.7%	196 (59.9%)	4 (1.2%)	72 (22.0%)	24 (7.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.2%)								93.5	81.4	455	259
060230911884	197	Inland Leaders Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	12375 California St.	Yucaipa	92399	San Bernardino County	Inland Leaders Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 446-1100	984	45	21.9	26.8%	579 (58.8%)	6 (0.6%)	334 (33.9%)	20 (2.0%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (4.1%)								93.4	90.3	275	78
060192914231	198	JCS - Mountain Oaks	Public, Charter	K-8	539 Encinitas Blvd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	JCS - Mountain Oaks District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 632-4989	237	10	24.8	14.3%	156 (65.8%)	7 (3.0%)	21 (8.9%)	21 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (13.1%)								93.4	95.7	127	71
062271003302	199	Paul Revere Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1450 Allenford Ave.	Los Angeles	90049	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 917-4800	1,718	71	24.2	25.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,337							93.3	91.3	252	53
068450014608	200	Solis Park	Public	K-8	101 Abacus	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 404-1500	426	17	25	10.8%	69 (16.2%)	8 (1.9%)	36 (8.5%)	282 (66.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.8%)								93.3			(n/a)

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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:

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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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