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)
060161614251	1771	California Virtual Academy at Fresno	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Fresno District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,184	42	28.2	74.5%	282 (23.8%)	118 (10.0%)	681 (57.5%)	56 (4.7%)	17 (1.4%)	6 (0.5%)	24 (2.0%)								30.9	30.2	1808	37
062271009152	1772	Pio Pico Middle	Public	6-8	1512 South Arlington Ave.	Los Angeles	90019	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 733-8801	212	17	12.8	98.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,997							30.8	30.2	1810	38
063888006528	1773	Jacobsen Middle	Public	6-8	711 Anita Dr.	Tehachapi	93561	Kern County	Tehachapi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 822-2150	917	41	22.2	32.8%	508 (55.4%)	7 (0.8%)	360 (39.3%)	11 (1.2%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.3%)	22 (2.4%)	$7,155							30.8	32.6	1719	54
060233411178	1774	Roseland Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1691 Burbank Ave.	Santa Rosa	95407	Sonoma County	Roseland Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 545-0102	1,293	65	19.9	70.2%	13 (1.0%)	11 (0.9%)	1,236 (95.6%)	12 (0.9%)	5 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (1.2%)								30.8	37.7	1537	237
060158214030	1775	Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	500 Oregon St.	Vallejo	94590	Solano County	Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 563-9827	919	42	21.6	69.2%	42 (4.6%)	243 (26.4%)	484 (52.7%)	104 (11.3%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.5%)	39 (4.2%)								30.7	29.5	1838	63
060200611480	1776	Northwest Prep Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2590 Piner Rd.	Santa Rosa	95401	Sonoma County	Northwest Prep Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 522-3320	124	7	17.2	49.2%	45 (36.3%)	4 (3.2%)	53 (42.7%)	5 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (10.5%)								30.7	25.7	2015	239
060444000396	1777	Bellflower High	Public	7-12	15301 South McNab Ave.	Bellflower	90706	Los Angeles County	Bellflower Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 920-1801	2,070	96	21.5	82.2%	68 (3.3%)	222 (10.7%)	1,615 (78.0%)	113 (5.5%)	9 (0.4%)	11 (0.5%)	31 (1.5%)	$10,324							30.7	32.4	1723	54
064116006805	1778	Royal Oaks Elementary	Public	K-8	1323 Clover Dr.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7787	617	27	22.9	80.1%	94 (15.2%)	10 (1.6%)	462 (74.9%)	20 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (4.7%)	$8,790							30.7	25.7	2012	234
061111009358	1779	La Quinta Middle	Public	6-8	78-900 Avenue 50	La Quinta	92253	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 777-4220	754	32	23.5	82.8%	112 (14.9%)	13 (1.7%)	584 (77.5%)	11 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (4.4%)	$8,035							30.7	32.7	1712	67
062955013957	1780	Desert Learning Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	2248 East Ramon Rd.	Palm Springs	92264	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 778-0487	436	16	27.2	96.1%	79 (18.1%)	34 (7.8%)	292 (67.0%)	11 (2.5%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.2%)	$17,298							30.7	28	1904	124

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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