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)
063153004884	291	Black Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	9353 Oviedo St.	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 484-1300	1,129	48	23.7	18.8%	429 (38.0%)	30 (2.7%)	189 (16.7%)	328 (29.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	151 (13.4%)	$7,043							89.3	90.2	276	15
060187912617	292	BRIDGES Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1335 Calle Bouganvilla	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	BRIDGES Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 492-3569	351	18	19.2	18.2%	224 (63.8%)	2 (0.6%)	87 (24.8%)	8 (2.3%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	26 (7.4%)								89.2	82.1	437	145
062724004109	293	Corona del Mar High	Public	7-12	2101 Eastbluff Dr.	Newport Beach	92660	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6000	2,059	93	22.2	20.0%	1,353 (65.7%)	14 (0.7%)	282 (13.7%)	235 (11.4%)	1 (0.0%)	12 (0.6%)	161 (7.8%)								89.2	92.7	216	77
061803002225	294	Isaac L. Sowers Middle	Public	6-8	9300 Indianapolis Ave.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Huntington Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 962-7738	753	34	22.1	21.2%	484 (64.3%)	3 (0.4%)	111 (14.7%)	77 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (10.4%)	$5,973							89.1	84.6	382	88
061851002268	295	Island Elementary	Public, Charter	K-8	7799 21st Ave.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Island Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6424	392	18	21.7	42.9%	234 (59.7%)	0 (0.0%)	139 (35.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.3%)	$9,255							89.1	84	394	99
063386002404	296	Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate	Public	7-8	21931 Alma Aldea	Rancho Santa Margarita	92688	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 459-8253	1,041	45	23	34.2%	496 (47.6%)	11 (1.1%)	284 (27.3%)	156 (15.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	92 (8.8%)	$6,107							89.1	91.8	241	55
060227811519	297	Twin Rivers Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2510 Live Oak Blvd.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Twin Rivers Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 755-2872	480	21	23.1	36.3%	227 (47.3%)	10 (2.1%)	150 (31.3%)	53 (11.0%)	8 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (6.5%)								89	90	280	17
060002811187	298	Erle Stanley Gardner Middle	Public	6-8	45125 Via Del Coronado	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 699-0080	1,044	44	23.6	23.4%	351 (33.6%)	28 (2.7%)	361 (34.6%)	162 (15.5%)	23 (2.2%)	3 (0.3%)	116 (11.1%)	$9,651							89	85.9	357	59
060232013525	299	Hollister Prep	Public, Charter	K-8	881 Line St.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 313-0772	539	20	27.2	50.1%	48 (8.9%)	2 (0.4%)	471 (87.4%)	13 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)								89	84	395	96
060149512247	300	Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	830 North La Brea Ave.	Inglewood	90302	Los Angeles County	Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 671-5578	195	10	19.5	44.1%	0 (0.0%)	168 (86.2%)	20 (10.3%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.5%)								88.9	88.6	315	15

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.