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)
061146001268	681	Griffiths (Gordon) Middle	Public	6-8	9633 Tweedy Ln.	Downey	90240	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3580	1,291	52	24.6	65.7%	67 (5.2%)	15 (1.2%)	1,165 (90.2%)	29 (2.2%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (0.8%)	$12,791							70.1	65	779	98
062409008671	682	Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts	Public, Charter	7-12	1917 B St.	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 749-6157	371	22	16.8	41.5%	123 (33.2%)	3 (0.8%)	141 (38.0%)	30 (8.1%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	68 (18.3%)								70	70.2	682
062403003618	683	Martinez Junior High	Public	6-8	1600 Ct. St.	Martinez	94553	Contra Costa County	Martinez Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 335-5820	803	32	25.1	33.6%	344 (42.8%)	21 (2.6%)	274 (34.1%)	56 (7.0%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.7%)	99 (12.3%)	$6,291							70	62.3	839	156
061288013863	684	Quantum Academy	Public	4-8	420 North Falconer Rd.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2220	287	15	18.7	55.1%	76 (26.5%)	11 (3.8%)	168 (58.5%)	10 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (7.7%)	$6,864							70	72.7	624	60
063271005085	685	Rio Bravo-Greeley Elementary	Public	3-8	6601 Enos Ln.	Bakersfield	93314	Kern County	Rio Bravo-Greeley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 589-2505	441	21	21.4	54.4%	181 (41.0%)	2 (0.5%)	243 (55.1%)	12 (2.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$6,725							69.9	63.7	801	116
063231011168	686	Pleasant Grove Middle	Public	6-8	2540 Green Valley Rd.	Rescue	95672	El Dorado County	Rescue Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 672-4400	465	26	17.7	23.2%	322 (69.2%)	4 (0.9%)	97 (20.9%)	13 (2.8%)	5 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	21 (4.5%)	$10,953							69.9	79.8	489	197
061209001349	687	Durfee Elementary	Public	K-8	12233 Star St.	El Monte	91732	Los Angeles County	El Monte City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 443-3900	1,089	49	22.2	74.3%	12 (1.1%)	4 (0.4%)	850 (78.1%)	221 (20.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$9,154							69.9	72.4	630	57
061716008411	688	Hickman Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	13306 Fourth St.	Hickman	95323	Stanislaus County	Hickman Community Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1816	147	7	20.9	42.9%	85 (57.8%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (35.4%)	4 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.1%)	$8,969							69.9	87.6	331	357
063583006131	689	Rincon Valley Middle	Public	7-8	4650 Badger Rd.	Santa Rosa	95409	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3870	780	34	23	27.4%	410 (52.6%)	6 (0.8%)	222 (28.5%)	72 (9.2%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	61 (7.8%)	$8,979							69.9	62.5	832	143
060191811954	690	ICEF Vista Middle Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	4471 Inglewood Blvd.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	ICEF Vista Middle Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 298-6405	204	11	18.3	96.6%	3 (1.5%)	6 (2.9%)	193 (94.6%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)								69.7	63.1	817	127

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.