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)
062223011415	1321	Christa McAuliffe Middle	Public	7-8	3880 Iron Canyon Cir.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-9431	632	32	19.7	58.4%	91 (14.4%)	90 (14.2%)	251 (39.7%)	147 (23.3%)	5 (0.8%)	8 (1.3%)	40 (6.3%)	$10,561							44.7	43.4	1364	43
062361011959	1322	Mossdale Elementary	Public	K-8	455 Brookhurst Blvd.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6285	1,069	39	27.1	48.8%	114 (10.7%)	89 (8.3%)	447 (41.8%)	337 (31.5%)	2 (0.2%)	18 (1.7%)	61 (5.7%)	$4,849							44.6	51.7	1117	205
063509005936	1323	James B. Davidson Middle	Public	6-8	280 Woodland Ave.	San Rafael	94901	Marin County	San Rafael City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 485-2400	1,063	53	20	73.5%	229 (21.5%)	12 (1.1%)	766 (72.1%)	34 (3.2%)	7 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.1%)	$8,329							44.5	40.7	1436	113
062847006433	1324	Oaks Middle	Public	7-8	1221 South Oaks Ave.	Ontario	91762	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 988-2050	726	32	22.9	82.4%	16 (2.2%)	16 (2.2%)	654 (90.1%)	24 (3.3%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.7%)	$8,076							44.5	52.5	1095	229
060257014596	1325	Achieve Charter School of Chico	Public, Charter	K-8	1494 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Achieve Charter School of Chico District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-4100	225	10	23.1	44.9%	158 (70.2%)	2 (0.9%)	36 (16.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (12.0%)								44.3	58.2	960	365
063099004798	1326	Pleasant Valley School of Engineering and Arts	Public	K-8	700 Temple Ave.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5340	536	25	21.2	57.1%	93 (17.4%)	11 (2.1%)	372 (69.4%)	32 (6.0%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.5%)	$8,868							44.3	35.8	1605	279
063801011779	1327	Maxine Hong Kingston Elementary	Public	K-8	6324 North Alturas Ave.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7493	787	33	23.7	74.1%	18 (2.3%)	91 (11.6%)	499 (63.4%)	118 (15.0%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.8%)	51 (6.5%)	$7,741							44.3	32.7	1715	388
062334003544	1328	Dixieland Elementary	Public	K-8	18440 Road 19	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 673-9119	319	16	19.6	92.5%	28 (8.8%)	3 (0.9%)	274 (85.9%)	7 (2.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	$1,390							44.3	29.5	1837	509
060169411634	1329	Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	603 East 115th St.	Los Angeles	90059	Los Angeles County	Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 905-1377	400	18	22	98.3%	1 (0.3%)	78 (19.5%)	319 (79.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)								44.3	30.2	1809	480
060159014226	1330	Heartland Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	955 Stanislaus	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Heartland Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 829-0099	4,700	157	29.9	43.0%	2,804 (59.7%)	73 (1.6%)	1,300 (27.7%)	58 (1.2%)	18 (0.4%)	4 (0.1%)	439 (9.3%)								44.3	43.5	1356	26

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.