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)
062295007772	1311	A. M. Thomas Middle	Public	6-8	20979 Lobos Ct.	Lost Hills	93249	Kern County	Lost Hills Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 797-2626	82	4	21.1	74.4%	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (98.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,236							44.9	58.3	952	359
062994004662	1312	Blair High	Public	6-12	1201 South Marengo Ave.	Pasadena	91106	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5820	1,117	53	21	66.3%	250 (22.4%)	79 (7.1%)	697 (62.4%)	56 (5.0%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	26 (2.3%)	$8,759							44.9	42.5	1385	73
062187002594	1313	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-8	333 North Westwood Ave.	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-6303	394	18	21.8	90.4%	16 (4.1%)	1 (0.3%)	362 (91.9%)	5 (1.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	$9,098							44.9	55.1	1028	285
061970012257	1314	Silas Bartsch	Public	K-8	2225 East North Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7280	611	25	24	87.9%	30 (4.9%)	1 (0.2%)	567 (92.8%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	$6,463							44.8	41.3	1418	104
060207812276	1315	Synergy Kinetic Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1420 East Adams Blvd.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Synergy Kinetic Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 846-2225	447	19	23.4	99.6%	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	439 (98.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)								44.8	41.1	1425	110
060300000236	1316	Sunny Brae Middle	Public	6-8	1430 Buttermilk Ln.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Arcata Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-5988	220	13	16.6	60.5%	135 (61.4%)	7 (3.2%)	45 (20.5%)	4 (1.8%)	5 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.5%)	$13,984							44.8	45.3	1304	12
061668002094	1317	Hawthorne Middle	Public	6-8	4366 West 129th St.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 676-0167	721	30	23.9	62.1%	14 (1.9%)	98 (13.6%)	566 (78.5%)	24 (3.3%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.7%)	6 (0.8%)	$7,375							44.8	49.1	1194	123
060411007263	1318	Don Julian Elementary	Public	K-8	13855 Don Julian Rd.	La Puente	91746	Los Angeles County	Bassett Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 931-2900	552	23	24.1	93.7%	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	522 (94.6%)	25 (4.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$2,425							44.7	55.9	1011	307
063441005610	1319	Francisco Middle	Public	6-8	2190 Powell St.	San Francisco	94133	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 291-7900	535	30	17.6	73.3%	53 (9.9%)	24 (4.5%)	91 (17.0%)	320 (59.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.4%)								44.7	42.8	1378	59
060004710394	1320	Art Freiler	Public	K-8	2421 West Lowell Ave.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3309	768	34	22.5	54.4%	134 (17.4%)	39 (5.1%)	328 (42.7%)	216 (28.1%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.8%)	43 (5.6%)	$5,767							44.7	41.6	1411	91

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.