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)
060159811189	2681	Aspire Capitol Heights Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	7300 Folsom Blvd.	Sacramento	95826	Sacramento County	Aspire Capitol Heights Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 739-8520	170	8	22.3	88.2%	1 (0.6%)	104 (61.2%)	41 (24.1%)	2 (1.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (12.4%)								9.3	9.2	2720	39
062949011463	2682	Cesar E. Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	440 Arthur Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 761-7699	552	27	20.5	90.4%	20 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	531 (96.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								9.3	13.2	2582	100
060250114440	2683	Brookfield Engineering Science Technology Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1704 Cape Horn	Julian	92036	San Diego County	Brookfield Engineering Science Technology Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(833) 619-2378	379	16	23.8	70.4%	16 (4.2%)	1 (0.3%)	353 (93.1%)	4 (1.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)								9.3	8.5	2737	54
060658000592	2684	Butte Valley Elementary	Public	K-8	615 West Third St.	Dorris	97601	Klamath County	Butte Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 397-3900	201	7	26.9	86.1%	68 (33.8%)	0 (0.0%)	115 (57.2%)	9 (4.5%)	5 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	$54,770							9.1	13.4	2576	108
060201000087	2685	Alpaugh Elementary	Public	K-8	5313 Road 39	Alpaugh	93201	Tulare County	Alpaugh Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 949-8413	271	11	25.2	84.1%	18 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	249 (91.9%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)								9.1	9.1	2722	37
062088005860	2686	New Vista Middle	Public	6-8	753 East Avenue K-2	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 726-4271	883	42	21.1	93.7%	43 (4.9%)	325 (36.8%)	478 (54.1%)	11 (1.2%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	22 (2.5%)	$8,469							9.1	9.7	2712	26
060229414433	2687	San Diego Mission Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	9512 Chesapeake Dr.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	San Diego Mission Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(833) 772-5106	151	10	15.8	63.6%	33 (21.9%)	13 (8.6%)	64 (42.4%)	3 (2.0%)	8 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (18.5%)								9			(n/a)
062805004278	2688	Madison Park Academy 6-12	Public	6-12	400 Capistrano Dr.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2315	674	49	13.8	97.3%	3 (0.4%)	93 (13.8%)	531 (78.8%)	10 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.1%)	16 (2.4%)	$6,957							9	10.5	2692	4
061509001904	2689	Gerber Elementary	Public	K-8	23014 Chard Ave.	Gerber	96035	Tehama County	Gerber Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 385-1041	399	17	23.4	82.5%	85 (21.3%)	3 (0.8%)	289 (72.4%)	2 (0.5%)	10 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.5%)	$11,977							9	19.8	2280	409
062271012771	2690	Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy	Public	6-12	1700 West 46th St.	Los Angeles	90062	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 421-1700	397	26	15.5	98.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,222							9	8.6	2732	42

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.