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)
060245114255	1821	California Virtual Academy at Maricopa	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Maricopa District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,247	45	27.8	78.7%	338 (27.1%)	125 (10.0%)	649 (52.0%)	57 (4.6%)	8 (0.6%)	5 (0.4%)	65 (5.2%)								29.6	38.4	1516	305
060203714304	1822	Invictus Academy of Richmond	Public, Charter	7-12	7150 Portola Dr.	El Cerrito	94530	Contra Costa County	Invictus Academy of Richmond District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 994-0888	389	23	16.9	75.1%	22 (5.7%)	56 (14.4%)	276 (71.0%)	15 (3.9%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	15 (3.9%)								29.6	44.1	1341	481
062361003580	1823	Lathrop Elementary	Public	K-8	15851 South Fifth St.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7250	935	38	24.6	73.8%	75 (8.0%)	28 (3.0%)	703 (75.2%)	91 (9.7%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.5%)	30 (3.2%)	$5,824							29.6	27.9	1909	86
060154213487	1824	Alliance Kory Hunter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	5886 Compton Ave.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Alliance Kory Hunter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 484-0450	469	21	22.6	96.2%	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.3%)	454 (96.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.7%)								29.5	31.8	1755	69
062460003695	1825	Rudolph Rivera Middle	Public	7-8	945 Buena Vista Dr.	Merced	95348	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6680	607	22	27.6	85.0%	58 (9.6%)	38 (6.3%)	375 (61.8%)	100 (16.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (5.3%)	$7,439							29.5	31.1	1783	42
060797007667	1826	El Capitan Middle	Public	7-8	4443 West Weldon Ave.	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-5270	739	37	20	86.5%	36 (4.9%)	50 (6.8%)	522 (70.6%)	115 (15.6%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.5%)	$5,431							29.5	24.4	2077	251
060231000106	1827	Aptitud Community Academy at Goss	Public	K-8	2475 Van Winkle Ln.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7656	409	20	20.9	89.7%	2 (0.5%)	5 (1.2%)	352 (86.1%)	47 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$14,203							29.5	26.4	1977	150
061392001602	1828	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	9452 Hemlock Ave.	Fontana	92335	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5400	809	41	19.7	92.8%	18 (2.2%)	11 (1.4%)	763 (94.3%)	11 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)								29.5	28.9	1860	32
060150712162	1829	ISANA Himalia Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	4607 South Central Ave.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	ISANA Himalia Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 231-7005	648	27	24	95.1%	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	639 (98.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)								29.5	20.8	2223	394
062271014113	1830	Katherine Johnson STEM Academy	Public	6-8	8701 Parkhill Dr.	Los Angeles	90045	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 673-1230	131	9	14.2	64.9%	13 (9.9%)	54 (41.2%)	42 (32.1%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	18 (13.7%)	$15,502							29.5	35	1632	198

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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