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)
063531006004	901	Saddleback High	Public	7-12	2801 South Flower	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 513-2900	1,499	75	19.9	75.7%	12 (0.8%)	7 (0.5%)	1,442 (96.2%)	29 (1.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	$9,442							59.3	69	700	201
061545001963	902	Gold Trail	Public	4-8	889 Cold Springs Rd.	Placerville	95667	El Dorado County	Gold Trail Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 626-2595	268	14	18.8	26.1%	216 (80.6%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (16.4%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	$9,112							59.2	71.1	662	240
060206803648	903	Temecula Valley Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	35755 Abelia St.	Winchester	92596	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 294-6775	520	25	20.6	25.2%	201 (38.7%)	25 (4.8%)	193 (37.1%)	50 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (9.8%)								59.2	70	684	219
062547003801	904	Macy Intermediate	Public	6-8	2101 South Lupine Ave.	Monterey Park	91755	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 722-0260	551	30	18.6	62.3%	12 (2.2%)	2 (0.4%)	463 (84.0%)	70 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$4,940							59.1	59.7	916	12
062868004460	905	Orchard Elementary	Public	K-8	921 Fox Ln.	San Jose	95131	Santa Clara County	Orchard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 944-0388	760	47	16.3	50.9%	35 (4.6%)	21 (2.8%)	340 (44.7%)	304 (40.0%)	6 (0.8%)	10 (1.3%)	44 (5.8%)	$10,366							59.1	60	903	2
060237000127	906	Alvina Elementary Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	295 West Saginaw Ave.	Caruthers	93609	Fresno County	Alvina Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 864-9411	176	9	19.5	77.8%	14 (8.0%)	1 (0.6%)	159 (90.3%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$13,769							59	63.7	804	102
060245810461	907	Oakland School for the Arts	Public, Charter	6-12	530 18th St.	Oakland	94612	Alameda County	Oakland School for the Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 873-8800	780	33	23.3	23.7%	234 (30.0%)	168 (21.5%)	165 (21.2%)	44 (5.6%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	136 (17.4%)								58.9	68.4	709	198
062955004562	908	Cielo Vista Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	650 South Paseo Dorotea	Palm Springs	92264	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 416-8250	850	39	21.8	92.1%	74 (8.7%)	13 (1.5%)	699 (82.2%)	39 (4.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (2.4%)	$9,130							58.8	60.8	880	28
063560006060	909	Branciforte Middle	Public	6-8	315 Poplar St.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-3883	435	23	19.1	42.8%	191 (43.9%)	7 (1.6%)	206 (47.4%)	10 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (4.4%)								58.8	60.9	876	33
063444012794	910	San Jacinto Leadership Academy - Magnet	Public, Alternative	6-11	181 North Ramona Blvd	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 929-1954	665	28	23.6	61.8%	81 (12.2%)	28 (4.2%)	504 (75.8%)	24 (3.6%)	4 (0.6%)	2 (0.3%)	21 (3.2%)	$14,279							58.8	63.3	812	98

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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