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)
060151914018	1651	EPIC Charter (Excellence Performance Innovation Citizenship)	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	100 South Anaheim Blvd. Ste. 1	Anaheim	92805	Orange County	EPIC CHRTR(Excellence Perf Innovation Citzenship) District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(657) 220-1000	1,005	30	33.7	41.1%	284 (28.3%)	132 (13.1%)	420 (41.8%)	31 (3.1%)	3 (0.3%)	8 (0.8%)	127 (12.6%)								34.3	41.2	1421	230
060327000245	1652	Haven Drive Middle	Public	7-8	341 Haven Dr.	Arvin	93203	Kern County	Arvin Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 854-6540	639	33	19.5	95.9%	13 (2.0%)	9 (1.4%)	611 (95.6%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$7,940							34.3	27	1953	301
060238813152	1653	California Connections Academy Northern California	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	580 North Wilma Ave. Ste. G	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	California Connections Academy Northern California District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(209) 253-1208	1,766	50	35.2	48.1%	547 (31.0%)	155 (8.8%)	551 (31.2%)	136 (7.7%)	5 (0.3%)	11 (0.6%)	351 (19.9%)								34.3	45.5	1297	356
062223002663	1654	Lodi Middle	Public	7-8	945 South Ham Ln.	Lodi	95242	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7540	898	44	20.3	80.4%	167 (18.6%)	18 (2.0%)	559 (62.2%)	108 (12.0%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	39 (4.3%)	$11,355							34.2	36.2	1585	69
062361010390	1655	Joseph Widmer Junior Elementary	Public	K-8	751 Stonebridge Ln.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6340	893	35	25.2	50.8%	89 (10.0%)	52 (5.8%)	464 (52.0%)	232 (26.0%)	7 (0.8%)	12 (1.3%)	37 (4.1%)	$5,072							34.2	26.8	1967	312
060133211201	1656	Norwood Junior High	Public	7-8	4601 Norwood Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2710	406	17	23.5	83.3%	20 (4.9%)	55 (13.5%)	167 (41.1%)	128 (31.5%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.7%)	23 (5.7%)								34.2	33.9	1668	12
063398005333	1657	El Sausal Middle	Public	7-8	1155 East Alisal St.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7200	1,035	47	21.9	95.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1,020 (98.6%)	10 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	$9,080							34.1	28.1	1898	241
061734012075	1658	Hollister Dual Language Academy	Public	K-8	873 Santa Ana Rd. Ste. 200	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 634-4930	847	40	21.4	51.2%	32 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	806 (95.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.1%)	$5,847							34.1	39.4	1480	178
062271003422	1659	Van Nuys Middle	Public	6-8	5435 Vesper Ave.	Van Nuys	91411	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 267-5900	869	46	18.8	92.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,833							34.1	27.7	1926	267
060154505492	1660	Keiller Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	7270 Lisbon St.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	Keiller Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 263-9266	603	38	15.8	84.2%	23 (3.8%)	52 (8.6%)	478 (79.3%)	37 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	10 (1.7%)								34.1	51.2	1127	533

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.