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)
060237212985	1941	Imagine Schools Riverside County	Public, Charter	K-8	50-930 Calhoun St.	Coachella	92236	Riverside County	Imagine Schools Riverside County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 391-9200	1,312	55	23.8	53.7%	35 (2.7%)	27 (2.1%)	1,224 (93.3%)	5 (0.4%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (1.4%)								27.1	23.6	2121	180
060157412258	1942	Yuba Environmental Science Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	9841 Texas Hill Rd.	Oregon House	95962	Yuba County	Yuba Environmental Science Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 692-2210	163	8	19.4	93.9%	88 (54.0%)	1 (0.6%)	49 (30.1%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.7%)								27.1	16.1	2461	519
062169002575	1943	Colonial Heights	Public	K-8	8135 Balboa Ave.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lincoln Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-8783	528	23	23.1	77.3%	84 (15.9%)	51 (9.7%)	277 (52.5%)	70 (13.3%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	40 (7.6%)	$4,410							27	25.1	2049	106
061407001609	1944	Fort Bragg Middle	Public	6-8	500 Harold St.	Fort Bragg	95437	Mendocino County	Fort Bragg Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 961-2870	392	22	17.6	81.1%	159 (40.6%)	2 (0.5%)	189 (48.2%)	6 (1.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.7%)	$8,565							27	30.8	1793	151
062637009946	1945	Horizons School: Independent Study	Public, Alternative	K-12	1 Santa Barbara Rd.	Pleasant Hill	94523	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 682-8000	269	18	14.9	43.1%	77 (28.6%)	15 (5.6%)	109 (40.5%)	22 (8.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (16.0%)	$15,216							27	50.2	1160	785
061873002274	1946	Oak Grove Middle	Public	6-8	14344 Olive Vista Dr.	Jamul	91935	San Diego County	Jamul-Dulzura Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 669-2700	184	9	20.4	50.0%	31 (16.8%)	2 (1.1%)	133 (72.3%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (8.2%)	$8,559							27	28.9	1861	85
060133201992	1947	Rio Linda Preparatory Academy	Public	7-8	1101 G St.	Rio Linda	95673	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2720	318	17	18.5	86.8%	109 (34.3%)	8 (2.5%)	128 (40.3%)	38 (11.9%)	4 (1.3%)	2 (0.6%)	29 (9.1%)								27	27.7	1922	25
062361009916	1948	Stella Brockman Elementary	Public	K-8	763 Silverado Dr.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7200	717	29	24.3	49.0%	128 (17.9%)	29 (4.0%)	387 (54.0%)	124 (17.3%)	4 (0.6%)	9 (1.3%)	36 (5.0%)	$5,740							26.9	27.6	1928	20
061657002089	1949	Happy Valley Elementary	Public	4-8	17480 Palm Ave.	Anderson	96007	Shasta County	Happy Valley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 357-2111	247	12	20.7	61.5%	140 (56.7%)	3 (1.2%)	56 (22.7%)	24 (9.7%)	8 (3.2%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.1%)	$7,718							26.9	25.2	2041	92
062649003995	1950	Desert Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	1575 Payne Ave.	Edwards	93523	Kern County	Muroc Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 306-4964	442	27	16.4	10.6%	172 (38.9%)	37 (8.4%)	135 (30.5%)	18 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	74 (16.7%)								26.9	26.9	1960	10

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.