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)
063579007870	2331	Gavilan View Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Van Buren Ave.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-7212	568	30	19	76.8%	27 (4.8%)	1 (0.2%)	516 (90.8%)	12 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	7 (1.2%)	$4,843							18.1	24.5	2075	256
060687008803	2332	Toyon Middle	Public	6-8	3412 Double Spring Rd.	Valley Springs	95252	Calaveras County	Calaveras Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 754-2137	506	26	19.3	42.1%	311 (61.5%)	3 (0.6%)	138 (27.3%)	8 (1.6%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	38 (7.5%)	$6,294							18.1	14.1	2553	221
062271003021	2333	Benjamin Franklin Senior High	Public	6-12	820 North Avenue 54	Los Angeles	90042	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 550-2000	1,350	75	18	86.0%	58 (4.3%)	16 (1.2%)	1,217 (90.1%)	43 (3.2%)	4 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	8 (0.6%)	$11,164							18.1	27.9	1913	420
062513010333	2334	Evelyn Hanshaw Middle	Public	7-8	1725 Las Vegas St.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1794	679	35	19.3	94.6%	21 (3.1%)	4 (0.6%)	608 (89.5%)	9 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	34 (5.0%)	$12,757							18.1	18.8	2341	7
062241002683	2335	Lompoc Valley Middle	Public	7-8	234 South N St.	Lompoc	93436	Santa Barbara County	Lompoc Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 742-2600	769	38	20	71.7%	74 (9.6%)	13 (1.7%)	631 (82.1%)	19 (2.5%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	26 (3.4%)	$7,522							18.1	16.3	2454	119
060006908610	2336	Pauma Elementary	Public	K-8	33158 Cole Grade Rd.	Pauma Valley	92061	San Diego County	Valley Center-Pauma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 742-3741	260	12	21.6	76.9%	12 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	197 (75.8%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (17.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.3%)	$13,194							18.1	15.8	2473	137
061968002361	2337	Chalone Peaks Middle	Public	6-8	667 Meyer St.	King City	93930	Monterey County	King City Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 385-4400	853	37	23.1	91.1%	22 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	810 (95.0%)	18 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$11,021							18	17.4	2411	74
063801006416	2338	Hazelton Elementary	Public	K-8	535 West Jefferson	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7210	661	29	22.7	91.2%	13 (2.0%)	42 (6.4%)	532 (80.5%)	52 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (3.2%)	$7,069							18	14.3	2543	205
061959012638	2339	Woodrow Wallace Middle	Public	6-8	3240 Erskine Creek Rd.	Lake Isabella	93240	Kern County	Kernville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 379-4646	274	15	18.8	80.3%	192 (70.1%)	2 (0.7%)	62 (22.6%)	2 (0.7%)	10 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)	$8,408							18	18.6	2353	14
060003601108	2340	Jefferson	Public	K-8	2001 Pebblewood	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5580	731	29	25.1	81.7%	73 (10.0%)	137 (18.7%)	337 (46.1%)	84 (11.5%)	4 (0.5%)	31 (4.2%)	64 (8.8%)	$6,503							18	19.1	2324	16

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

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.