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)
062361003587	2411	Sequoia Elementary	Public	K-8	710 Martha St.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7440	837	32	26.2	69.3%	97 (11.6%)	18 (2.2%)	652 (77.9%)	43 (5.1%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	21 (2.5%)	$5,726							16.5	20.1	2268	143
062955012795	2412	Painted Hills Middle	Public	6-8	9250 Sonora Dr.	Desert Hot Springs	92240	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 251-1551	741	34	21.8	98.2%	85 (11.5%)	43 (5.8%)	573 (77.3%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (4.2%)	$13,527							16.5	17.8	2388	24
060558010660	2413	Arellanes Junior High	Public	7-8	1890 Sandalwood Dr.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-6820	596	31	19.2	81.2%	13 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	566 (95.0%)	14 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$8,713							16.5	11.5	2649	236
060690002010	2414	William Moreno Junior High	Public	7-8	1202 Kloke Rd.	Calexico	92231	Imperial County	Calexico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 768-3960	643	29	21.8	89.0%	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	640 (99.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								16.4	13.4	2575	161
061191009533	2415	Gifford C. Cole Middle	Public	7-8	3126 East Avenue I	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Eastside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 946-1041	703	34	20.5	92.3%	44 (6.3%)	149 (21.2%)	478 (68.0%)	9 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.3%)								16.4	14.6	2525	110
069100205704	2416	Hearthstone	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2280 6th St.	Oroville	95965	Butte County	Butte County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 532-5848	163	14	11.5	84.7%	97 (59.5%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (23.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.1%)	1 (0.6%)	20 (12.3%)	$11,208							16.4	38.4	1519	897
060209911856	2417	Ivy Bound Academy of Math Sci and Technical Charter Mid	Public, Charter	5-8	15355 Morrison St.	Sherman Oaks	91403	Los Angeles County	Ivy Bound Academy of Math Sci and Technical Charter Mid Dis	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 646-4992	139	9	16	49.6%	88 (63.3%)	7 (5.0%)	28 (20.1%)	5 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	10 (7.2%)								16.4	32.4	1725	692
062271010519	2418	CDS Secondary	Public	6-12	727 South Wilson St.	Los Angeles	90021	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 239-5656	9	4	2.5	66.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$51,139							16.4	22.7	2151	267
062271012493	2419	New Open World Academy K-12	Public, Alternative	K-12	3201 West Eighth St.	Los Angeles	90010	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 480-3700	968	49	19.8	96.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,772							16.4	17.3	2414	5
060225113738	2420	Downtown College Preparatory Middle	Public, Charter	5-8	1402 Monterey Hwy.	San Jose	95110	Santa Clara County	Downtown College Preparatory Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 271-8120	294	8	35.2	79.3%	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.0%)	272 (92.5%)	11 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.4%)								16.4	14.8	2518	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:

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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