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)
060004810395	1361	Paso Robles Independent Study Center	Public	K-8	2405 Spring St.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	Paso Robles Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 769-1620	41	3	16.3	56.1%	17 (41.5%)	1 (2.4%)	21 (51.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.4%)								43.2	29.1	1848	487
063488005894	1362	San Marcos Middle	Public	6-8	650 West Mission Rd.	San Marcos	92069	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2500	987	46	21.5	63.3%	149 (15.1%)	14 (1.4%)	717 (72.6%)	57 (5.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	47 (4.8%)	$7,737							43.2	54.5	1042	320
063171008944	1363	Olive Peirce Middle	Public	7-8	1521 Hanson Ln.	Ramona	92065	San Diego County	Ramona City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 787-2400	716	37	19.3	64.7%	328 (45.8%)	4 (0.6%)	334 (46.6%)	6 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (5.7%)	$5,768							43.1	48.1	1221	142
060678000601	1364	Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate	Public	6-8	600 Church St.	Half Moon Bay	94019	San Mateo County	Cabrillo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 712-7190	542	27	20.4	45.4%	199 (36.7%)	0 (0.0%)	308 (56.8%)	12 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.1%)	$9,439							43.1	41	1430	66
060217414324	1365	iLead Agua Dulce	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	11311 Frascati St.	Agua Dulce	91390	Los Angeles County	iLead Agua Dulce District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 268-6386	333	17	19.5	44.1%	156 (46.8%)	4 (1.2%)	142 (42.6%)	5 (1.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (7.2%)								43.1	35.9	1599	234
060212113164	1366	Richmond Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1450 Marina Way South	Richmond	94804	Contra Costa County	Richmond Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 235-2465	292	9	32.3	57.9%	5 (1.7%)	12 (4.1%)	269 (92.1%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)								43.1	13.9	2559	1193
060166911902	1367	Golden Valley River	Public, Charter	K-8	9601 Lake Natoma Dr.	Orangevale	95662	Sacramento County	Golden Valley River District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 987-6141	305	13	23.4	32.1%	201 (65.9%)	4 (1.3%)	65 (21.3%)	6 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	28 (9.2%)								43	41.7	1409	42
060172312852	1368	Rise Kohyang Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	3020 Wilshire Blvd. 2nd Fl.	Los Angeles	90010	Los Angeles County	Rise Kohyang Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(424) 789-8338	303	19	16.1	91.1%	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.3%)	229 (75.6%)	56 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								43	40.1	1456	88
062454012424	1369	Hans Christensen Middle	Public	6-8	27625 Sherman Rd.	Menifee	92586	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 679-8356	347	17	20.3	76.1%	58 (16.7%)	30 (8.6%)	192 (55.3%)	20 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	40 (11.5%)	$9,849							43	41.3	1419	50
060188810393	1370	Discovery Charter	Public, Charter	5-8	51 East Beverly Pl.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Discovery Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 290-0511	366	16	22.2	40.7%	80 (21.9%)	12 (3.3%)	197 (53.8%)	56 (15.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	20 (5.5%)								43	46.7	1264	106

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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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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