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)
061077001192	2211	Crescent Elk Middle	Public	6-8	994 G St.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0320	527	28	18.8	74.8%	244 (46.3%)	4 (0.8%)	133 (25.2%)	18 (3.4%)	85 (16.1%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (7.8%)	$11,869							21.1	22.9	2142	69
062271012825	2212	Orchard Academies 2B	Public	6-8	6411 Orchard Ave.	Bell	90201	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 826-3900	399	22	18.5	90.2%	13 (3.3%)	1 (0.3%)	383 (96.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$10,371							21	25.8	2005	207
060897000902	2213	Washington	Public	5-8	129 South Washington St.	Cloverdale	95425	Sonoma County	Cloverdale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 894-1940	393	23	16.8	66.9%	131 (33.3%)	2 (0.5%)	223 (56.7%)	6 (1.5%)	9 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.6%)								21	17.4	2410	197
060164913787	2214	Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	12700 S. Avalon Blvd.	Los Angeles	90061	Los Angeles County	Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-4450	410	20	20.1	92.9%	4 (1.0%)	75 (18.3%)	324 (79.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)								21	18.8	2340	126
060181703943	2215	Harriet Tubman Village Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6880 Mohawk St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	Harriet Tubman Village Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-8635	445	19	23.9	93.0%	7 (1.6%)	240 (53.9%)	158 (35.5%)	8 (1.8%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	28 (6.3%)								21	26.9	1958	257
061734003760	2216	Maze Middle	Public	6-8	900 Meridian St.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4480	420	21	19.8	60.5%	25 (6.0%)	3 (0.7%)	370 (88.1%)	10 (2.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.4%)	$6,551							20.9	26.8	1966	250
060182513697	2217	Opportunities for Learning - Duarte	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1202-1204 Huntington Dr.	Duarte	91010	Los Angeles County	Opportunities for Learning - Duarte District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 303-2113	165	7	23.3	78.8%	24 (14.5%)	10 (6.1%)	121 (73.3%)	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	3 (1.8%)								20.9	17.9	2381	164
063003004704	2218	Creekside Middle	Public	7-8	535 Peregrine Dr.	Patterson	95363	Stanislaus County	Patterson Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 892-4710	897	42	21.2	81.8%	63 (7.0%)	44 (4.9%)	704 (78.5%)	39 (4.3%)	3 (0.3%)	15 (1.7%)	29 (3.2%)								20.9	21.4	2202	16
060146814198	2219	America's Finest Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	730 45th St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	America's Finest Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 694-4809	453	28	16	98.0%	16 (3.5%)	62 (13.7%)	342 (75.5%)	22 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.3%)	5 (1.1%)								20.9	35.1	1626	593
061384001562	2220	Firebaugh Middle	Public	6-8	1600 16th St.	Firebaugh	93622	Fresno County	Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 659-1481	533	28	18.7	92.9%	11 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	520 (97.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								20.8	27.1	1952	268

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.