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)
062646003993	1061	Mupu Elementary	Public	K-8	4410 North Ojai Rd.	Santa Paula	93060	Ventura County	Mupu Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 525-6111	181	9	19.2	47.0%	44 (24.3%)	0 (0.0%)	132 (72.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.8%)								53.2	59.6	919	142
063255005044	1062	Mira Vista Elementary	Public	K-8	6397 Hazel Ave.	Richmond	94805	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1416	512	27	19.1	47.5%	111 (21.7%)	67 (13.1%)	204 (39.8%)	52 (10.2%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	73 (14.3%)	$6,441							53.1	35.3	1621	559
063386005306	1063	Los Alisos Intermediate	Public	7-8	25171 Moor Ave.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 830-9700	656	31	21.3	73.6%	126 (19.2%)	5 (0.8%)	456 (69.5%)	42 (6.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.8%)	$6,772							53.1	45	1314	251
060251014414	1064	California Pacific Charter - Sonoma	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	14630 Armstrong Woods Rd.	Guerneville	95466	Mendocino County	California Pacific Charter - Sonoma District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 225-7227	128	36	3.5	58.6%	44 (34.4%)	11 (8.6%)	40 (31.3%)	9 (7.0%)	2 (1.6%)	1 (0.8%)	21 (16.4%)								53.1	50.7	1144	80
064098006746	1065	Balboa Middle	Public	6-8	247 Hill Rd.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-1800	1,074	42	25.6	47.9%	386 (35.9%)	10 (0.9%)	578 (53.8%)	48 (4.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (3.9%)	$6,467							53.1	52.5	1093	28
060158713910	1066	Golden Valley Orchard	Public, Charter	K-8	6550 Filbert Ave.	Orangevale	95662	Sacramento County	Golden Valley Orchard District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 987-1490	279	11	25.3	29.7%	206 (73.8%)	1 (0.4%)	49 (17.6%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.2%)								53	52.2	1102	36
063132011672	1067	Cortez Elementary	Public	K-8	1300 North Dudley	Pomona	91768	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4750	608	27	22.5	92.4%	13 (2.1%)	15 (2.5%)	569 (93.6%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$4,938							53	48.2	1218	151
062928004522	1068	Pacheco Elementary	Public	4-8	7430 Pacheco School Rd.	Redding	96002	Shasta County	Pacheco Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 224-4585	360	22	16.3	50.0%	264 (73.3%)	1 (0.3%)	55 (15.3%)	6 (1.7%)	15 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.3%)	$6,765							52.9	33.4	1689	621
060243010578	1069	Ysmael Villegas Middle	Public	6-8	3754 Harvill Ln.	Riverside	92503	Riverside County	Alvord Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 358-1695	1,262	55	23.1	74.3%	168 (13.3%)	66 (5.2%)	864 (68.5%)	121 (9.6%)	4 (0.3%)	9 (0.7%)	28 (2.2%)	$7,158							52.9	48.8	1202	133
062790004228	1070	Oak Valley Elementary	Public	K-8	24500 Road 68	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Oak Valley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 688-2908	571	33	17.2	70.1%	105 (18.4%)	3 (0.5%)	449 (78.6%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	$6,407							52.9	58.8	941	129

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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