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)
061632502058	1231	Newton Middle	Public	6-8	15616 Newton St.	Hacienda Heights	91745	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-2400	575	25	23.1	52.9%	18 (3.1%)	4 (0.7%)	493 (85.7%)	53 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.2%)								47.5	65.6	773	458
062271002800	1232	John Adams Middle	Public	6-8	151 West 30th St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 745-3700	736	43	17	96.9%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,004							47.4	46.9	1257	25
063801011302	1233	George W. Bush Elementary	Public	K-8	5420 Fred Russo Dr.	Stockton	95212	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7350	791	31	25.1	74.3%	17 (2.1%)	58 (7.3%)	306 (38.7%)	346 (43.7%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (1.4%)	48 (6.1%)	$7,304							47.4	39	1497	264
060188911361	1234	Stella Middle Charter Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	4301 West MLK Blvd.	Los Angeles	90016	Los Angeles County	Stella Middle Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 406-7155	479	21	22.4	96.0%	1 (0.2%)	85 (17.7%)	378 (78.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.3%)								47.4	32.4	1724	490
060190305717	1235	Children's Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6830 Pentz Rd	Paradise	95969	Butte County	Children's Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 877-2227	179	8	23	59.8%	139 (77.7%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.3%)	5 (2.8%)	7 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (8.4%)								47.3			(n/a)
060160206676	1236	Piner-Olivet Charter	Public, Charter	7-8	2707 Francisco Ave.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Piner-Olivet Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 522-3310	216	8	25.5	44.4%	52 (24.1%)	6 (2.8%)	112 (51.9%)	23 (10.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	21 (9.7%)								47.2	61.8	857	379
061389011068	1237	Folsom Cordova K-8 Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4420 Monhegan Way	Mather	95655	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9190	164	8	19.5	26.2%	77 (47.0%)	9 (5.5%)	42 (25.6%)	12 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (14.6%)								47.2	56.4	1001	236
061077001198	1238	Redwood Elementary	Public	K-8	6900 Lake Earl Dr.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0360	477	19	25.5	55.3%	266 (55.8%)	1 (0.2%)	84 (17.6%)	15 (3.1%)	48 (10.1%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (13.2%)	$10,149							47.1	40.4	1445	207
060207313150	1239	Highland Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	715 Wellwood Ave.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Highland Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 266-0220	330	18	18.3	39.7%	114 (34.5%)	7 (2.1%)	161 (48.8%)	10 (3.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (10.9%)								47.1	40.5	1440	201
062361011419	1240	Walter Woodward Elementary	Public	K-8	575 Tannehill Dr.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7430	935	39	24	37.3%	206 (22.0%)	46 (4.9%)	398 (42.6%)	221 (23.6%)	4 (0.4%)	15 (1.6%)	45 (4.8%)	$5,510							47.1	55.5	1021	219

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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

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

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