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)
060180012642	1781	High Technical Middle Chula Vista	Public, Charter	6-8	1949 Discovery Falls Dr.	Chula Vista	91915	San Diego County	High Technical Middle Chula Vista District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 591-2530	334	15	22.2	41.9%	16 (4.8%)	10 (3.0%)	247 (74.0%)	43 (12.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	17 (5.1%)								30.7	29.3	1842	61
062271012779	1782	Orchard Academies 2C	Public	6-8	6411 Orchard Ave.	Bell	90201	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 826-3900	397	19	21.4	96.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,601							30.7	23	2139	357
061236001415	1783	Elk Hills Elementary	Public	K-8	501 Kern St.	Tupman	93276	Kern County	Elk Hills Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 765-7431	163	9	17.9	77.9%	135 (82.8%)	2 (1.2%)	22 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.5%)	$11,101							30.6	19.5	2295	512
062394008897	1784	Lake Don Pedro Elementary	Public	K-8	2411 Hidalgo	La Grange	95329	Stanislaus County	Mariposa County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 852-2144	181	8	22.5	70.2%	101 (55.8%)	3 (1.7%)	64 (35.4%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.1%)	$9,734							30.6	15.8	2475	691
061632502062	1785	Sierra Vista Middle	Public	6-8	15801 Sierra Vista Ct.	La Puente	91744	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-4000	206	10	20	69.4%	5 (2.4%)	1 (0.5%)	189 (91.7%)	8 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)								30.6	28.3	1889	104
060235808692	1786	Manzanita Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	461 33rd St.	Richmond	94804	Contra Costa County	Manzanita Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 222-3500	82	5	16.3	63.4%	0 (0.0%)	7 (8.5%)	72 (87.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.7%)								30.5	14.3	2546	760
062271002944	1787	Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle	Public	6-8	1254 East Helmick St.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 661-4500	393	25	15.8	90.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,036							30.5	27.2	1945	158
062598003897	1788	Herbert C. Green Middle	Public	5-8	3781 Forni Rd.	Placerville	95667	El Dorado County	Mother Lode Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 622-4668	374	19	20	48.9%	218 (58.3%)	2 (0.5%)	129 (34.5%)	3 (0.8%)	11 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.9%)	$8,540							30.5	32.9	1702	86
062825011922	1789	Cesar Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	202 Oleander Dr.	Oceanside	92057	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 966-4900	670	31	21.3	85.4%	53 (7.9%)	22 (3.3%)	512 (76.4%)	33 (4.9%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (3.0%)	29 (4.3%)	$12,382							30.4	34.4	1650	139
060002705011	1790	David A. Brown Middle	Public	6-8	21861 Grand Ave.	Wildomar	92595	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7430	990	39	25.4	74.0%	191 (19.3%)	41 (4.1%)	666 (67.3%)	35 (3.5%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	52 (5.3%)	$7,342							30.4	32.2	1740	50

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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