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)
060152210634	1381	Altus Schools Audeo	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	10170 Huennekens St.	San Diego	92121	San Diego County	Altus Schools Audeo District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2050	402	16	25.1	65.2%	127 (31.6%)	30 (7.5%)	191 (47.5%)	14 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (9.0%)								42.4	34.1	1661	280
063398005337	1382	Washington Middle	Public	7-8	560 Iverson St.	Salinas	93901	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7100	1,068	47	22.6	89.5%	44 (4.1%)	9 (0.8%)	973 (91.1%)	24 (2.2%)	5 (0.5%)	4 (0.4%)	9 (0.8%)	$8,694							42.4	37.7	1536	154
062871002781	1383	Olga L. Reed Elementary	Public	K-8	480 Centennial St.	Los Alamos	93440	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 344-2401	152	7	21.7	89.5%	17 (11.2%)	0 (0.0%)	124 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.0%)	1 (0.7%)	6 (3.9%)	$8,825							42.3	49.2	1193	190
061203001336	1384	Kennedy Middle	Public	7-8	900 North Sixth St.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-0444	438	23	18.9	91.8%	4 (0.9%)	5 (1.1%)	425 (97.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$9,775							42.3	29.3	1843	459
060369000336	1385	Olive Middle	Public	6-8	13701 Olive St.	Baldwin Park	91706	Los Angeles County	Baldwin Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 962-8416	489	29	17	88.3%	14 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	438 (89.6%)	33 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$7,499							42.2	41.1	1422	37
060212214260	1386	Learning Choice Academy - Chula Vista	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	881 Kuhn Dr.	Chula Vista	91914	San Diego County	Learning Choice Academy - Chula Vista District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 463-6801	415	25	16.6	54.9%	16 (3.9%)	17 (4.1%)	333 (80.2%)	29 (7.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	18 (4.3%)								42.2	52	1111	275
064059006703	1387	Willis Jepson Middle	Public	7-8	580 Elder St.	Vacaville	95688	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-6280	945	44	21.4	45.6%	361 (38.2%)	36 (3.8%)	399 (42.2%)	46 (4.9%)	4 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	95 (10.1%)	$5,951							42.1	48.1	1223	164
060209614036	1388	Animo Florence-Firestone Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	8255 Beach St.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Animo Florence-Firestone Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-3280	443	19	22.9	95.7%	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	439 (99.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								42.1	34.8	1639	251
062475009155	1389	Middletown Middle	Public	7-8	15846 Wardlaw St.	Middletown	95461	Lake County	Middletown Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 987-4160	214	11	18.8	57.9%	126 (58.9%)	1 (0.5%)	72 (33.6%)	2 (0.9%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.1%)	$8,190							42	32.1	1742	353
062439003655	1390	Meadows Elementary	Public	K-8	2059 Bowker Rd.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	Meadows Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-7512	370	18	20.5	63.2%	22 (5.9%)	3 (0.8%)	338 (91.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.1%)	$12,263							41.9	39.6	1474	84

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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