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)
060158112960	871	Laurel Tree Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4555 Valley West Blvd.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Laurel Tree Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-5626	173	14	12.3	54.9%	120 (69.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (9.8%)	2 (1.2%)	4 (2.3%)	1 (0.6%)	27 (15.6%)								60.6			(n/a)
060200711918	872	Pasadena Rosebud Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3544 North Canon Blvd.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Rosebud Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 797-7704	144	10	14.4	68.8%	1 (0.7%)	78 (54.2%)	46 (31.9%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (12.5%)								60.5	75.3	576	296
062361011420	873	Veritas Elementary	Public	K-8	1600 Pagola St.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7390	1,205	47	25.6	58.9%	138 (11.5%)	48 (4.0%)	423 (35.1%)	524 (43.5%)	3 (0.2%)	10 (0.8%)	59 (4.9%)	$4,804							60.4	72	642	231
061884011411	874	Anthony C. Traina Elementary	Public	K-8	4256 Windsong Dr.	Tracy	95377	San Joaquin County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 839-2379	805	34	23.8	40.5%	115 (14.3%)	43 (5.3%)	285 (35.4%)	289 (35.9%)	4 (0.5%)	6 (0.7%)	63 (7.8%)	$6,461							60.4	61	873	1
063093004792	875	Magnolia Intermediate	Public	6-8	22431 Kingston Ln.	Grass Valley	95949	Nevada County	Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 268-2815	362	18	20	30.4%	262 (72.4%)	1 (0.3%)	60 (16.6%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (9.4%)	$10,589							60.4	56.4	1002	127
061149003494	876	Antelope Crossing Middle	Public	6-8	9200 Palmerson Dr.	Antelope	95843	Sacramento County	Dry Creek Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 745-2100	1,058	44	24	55.7%	439 (41.5%)	76 (7.2%)	249 (23.5%)	173 (16.4%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	113 (10.7%)	$6,349							60.4	58	964	88
062825003970	877	Martin Luther King Junior Middle	Public	6-8	1290 Ivey Ranch Rd.	Oceanside	92057	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-8800	1,142	53	21.3	66.8%	221 (19.4%)	47 (4.1%)	616 (53.9%)	82 (7.2%)	4 (0.4%)	42 (3.7%)	128 (11.2%)	$11,482							60.2	60.8	879	2
062967004605	878	Palo Verde Elementary	Public	K-8	9637 Avenue 196	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Palo Verde Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 688-0648	502	23	21.8	86.1%	32 (6.4%)	4 (0.8%)	459 (91.4%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$10,428							60.2	65.5	774	104
060173408436	879	CORE Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	321 16th St.	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	CORE Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 742-2786	536	26	20.5	54.5%	314 (58.6%)	9 (1.7%)	140 (26.1%)	3 (0.6%)	10 (1.9%)	3 (0.6%)	56 (10.4%)								60.1	48.5	1211	332
060180910636	880	San Diego Cooperative Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	7260 Linda Vista Rd.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Cooperative Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-1613	459	24	18.9	58.6%	179 (39.0%)	20 (4.4%)	165 (35.9%)	46 (10.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.2%)								60.1	71.5	653	227

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.