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)
063132004845	2071	Harrison Elementary	Public	K-8	425 East Harrison Ave.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4600	314	15	21.3	94.6%	11 (3.5%)	31 (9.9%)	249 (79.3%)	13 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	8 (2.5%)	$6,180							24.2	21.2	2214	143
062580010277	2072	Landmark Middle	Public	6-8	15261 Legendary Dr.	Moreno Valley	92555	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 571-4220	844	47	17.9	84.2%	44 (5.2%)	140 (16.6%)	565 (66.9%)	40 (4.7%)	3 (0.4%)	10 (1.2%)	42 (5.0%)	$7,977							24.2	25.4	2027	45
063398000677	2073	Harden Middle	Public	7-8	1561 McKinnon St.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7300	1,127	50	22.7	91.8%	24 (2.1%)	8 (0.7%)	1,041 (92.4%)	36 (3.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	15 (1.3%)	$9,544							24.1	27.7	1921	152
060962000971	2074	Bunche Middle	Public	6-8	12338 Mona Blvd.	Compton	90059	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6010	314	15	20.3	94.9%	1 (0.3%)	49 (15.6%)	258 (82.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)								24.1	27.4	1935	139
060197110729	2075	Oakland Military Institute College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	3877 Lusk St.	Oakland	94608	Alameda County	Oakland Military Inst College Prep Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 594-3900	518	33	15.6	89.0%	7 (1.4%)	88 (17.0%)	341 (65.8%)	68 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.3%)								24.1	28.5	1877	198
063705006291	2076	Main Street Middle	Public	7-8	441 Main St.	Soledad	93960	Monterey County	Soledad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 678-6460	760	35	21.9	83.0%	9 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	733 (96.4%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.8%)	$6,219							24.1	25.5	2026	50
060187112776	2077	Vista Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	2900 West Temple St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Vista Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 201-4000	369	14	25.8	92.7%	3 (0.8%)	4 (1.1%)	347 (94.0%)	7 (1.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.9%)								24.1	17.8	2386	309
060242012983	2078	Walden Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1149 West Wood St.	Willows	95988	Glenn County	Walden Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 361-6480	186	11	16.9	57.5%	75 (40.3%)	1 (0.5%)	72 (38.7%)	3 (1.6%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (17.7%)								24	38.9	1498	580
062271002975	2079	Thomas A. Edison Middle	Public	6-8	6500 Hooper Ave.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 826-2500	849	52	16.4	97.9%	10 (1.2%)	40 (4.7%)	790 (93.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.8%)	$10,422							24	23.2	2135	56
062271010860	2080	Southeast Middle	Public	6-8	2560 Tweedy Blvd.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 568-3100	1,219	59	20.7	93.7%	26 (2.1%)	11 (0.9%)	1,176 (96.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	$9,425							24	16	2465	385

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.