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)
062409003620	2121	Anna McKenney Intermediate	Public	6-8	1904 Huston	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 741-6187	584	27	21.8	68.3%	194 (33.2%)	18 (3.1%)	280 (47.9%)	33 (5.7%)	5 (0.9%)	4 (0.7%)	50 (8.6%)								23	29.2	1845	276
060231000122	2122	William Sheppard Middle	Public	6-8	480 Rough and Ready Rd.	San Jose	95133	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-8800	463	27	17	74.3%	11 (2.4%)	6 (1.3%)	275 (59.4%)	161 (34.8%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	5 (1.1%)	$13,636							23	23.9	2109	13
060236401220	2123	Darnall Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6020 Hughes St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	Darnall Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 582-1822	442	20	22.6	81.7%	5 (1.1%)	36 (8.1%)	357 (80.8%)	27 (6.1%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.7%)								23	28.2	1895	228
060149410517	2124	Los Angeles Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	234 East Avenue 33	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 227-7719	349	16	21.7	92.0%	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	330 (94.6%)	4 (1.1%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)								23	13.9	2563	439
063066012371	2125	Valadez Middle School Academy	Public	6-8	161 East La Jolla St.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7440	557	30	18.7	96.1%	12 (2.2%)	3 (0.5%)	528 (94.8%)	8 (1.4%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	$7,320							23	30.1	1812	313
062274003482	2126	Los Banos Junior High	Public	7-8	1750 San Luis St.	Los Banos	93635	Merced County	Los Banos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 826-0867	926	43	21.5	78.1%	63 (6.8%)	8 (0.9%)	826 (89.2%)	10 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.2%)	8 (0.9%)	$10,830							23	22	2181	55
062769004184	2127	Nettie L. Waite Middle	Public	6-8	14320 South Norwalk Blvd.	Norwalk	90650	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-4370	517	23	22.2	80.3%	6 (1.2%)	6 (1.2%)	475 (91.9%)	17 (3.3%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.7%)	$13,695							22.9	19.4	2300	173
060246812643	2128	Valley Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	14646 Sherman Way	Van Nuys	91405	Los Angeles County	Valley Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 988-9128	245	12	20.7	70.2%	31 (12.7%)	3 (1.2%)	190 (77.6%)	13 (5.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.9%)								22.9	32.3	1727	401
060154810840	2129	New Designs Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	2303 South Figueroa Way	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	New Designs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 765-9084	797	23	34.1	76.3%	19 (2.4%)	59 (7.4%)	615 (77.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (12.9%)								22.8	28.9	1854	275
060273000199	2130	Anderson Valley Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	18200 Mountain View Rd.	Boonville	95415	Mendocino County	Anderson Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 895-3496	207	15	14.1	79.7%	36 (17.4%)	2 (1.0%)	169 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$197							22.8	31.2	1775	355

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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

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.