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)
063264011481	521	Spring Lake Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4675 Mayette Ave.	Santa Rosa	95405	Sonoma County	Rincon Valley Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 545-1771	337	24	13.9	40.9%	179 (53.1%)	11 (3.3%)	92 (27.3%)	13 (3.9%)	6 (1.8%)	3 (0.9%)	32 (9.5%)	$11,085							78.1	75.6	568	47
062805004250	522	Claremont Middle	Public	6-8	5750 College Ave.	Oakland	94618	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2201	488	32	15.3	53.7%	137 (28.1%)	142 (29.1%)	76 (15.6%)	25 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	105 (21.5%)	$6,503							78.1	80.9	470	52
060450000412	523	Belleview Elementary	Public	K-8	22736 Kuien Mill Rd.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Belleview Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 586-5510	166	9	18.4	48.2%	111 (66.9%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (21.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.4%)	$12,497							78.1	59.2	929	406
063025004716	524	Mary Collins Charter School at Cherry Valley	Public, Charter	K-8	1001 Cherry St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4740	482	20	24.4	26.1%	356 (73.9%)	1 (0.2%)	54 (11.2%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (12.7%)	$7,851							78	71	666	142
062637008916	525	Sequoia Middle	Public	6-8	265 Boyd Rd.	Pleasant Hill	94523	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 934-8174	835	33	25.1	29.2%	220 (26.3%)	27 (3.2%)	323 (38.7%)	147 (17.6%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.8%)	110 (13.2%)								78	74.1	600	75
063864007348	526	Rancho del Rey Middle	Public	7-8	1174 East J St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 397-2500	1,625	66	24.6	28.2%	173 (10.6%)	112 (6.9%)	802 (49.4%)	395 (24.3%)	5 (0.3%)	7 (0.4%)	131 (8.1%)	$5,823							78	79.4	502	24
060216000094	527	Alta Loma Junior High	Public	7-8	9000 Lemon Ave.	Alta Loma	91701	San Bernardino County	Alta Loma Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 484-5100	643	27	23.5	31.6%	199 (30.9%)	23 (3.6%)	341 (53.0%)	49 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (4.7%)	$7,172							77.9	80.5	477	50
063348005174	528	Rosedale Middle	Public	7-8	12463 Rosedale Hwy.	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Rosedale Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 588-6030	768	36	21.6	33.1%	373 (48.6%)	17 (2.2%)	305 (39.7%)	40 (5.2%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	26 (3.4%)	$10,028							77.9	80.3	482	46
060015310939	529	Marguerita Elementary	Public	K-8	1603 South Marguerita Ave.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3620	495	23	21.4	70.1%	7 (1.4%)	4 (0.8%)	300 (60.6%)	173 (34.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.0%)	$11,556							77.8	79.4	503	26
060837007945	530	Marsh (Harry M.) Junior High	Public	6-8	2253 Humboldt Rd.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-4110	764	37	20.6	45.0%	411 (53.8%)	21 (2.7%)	173 (22.6%)	54 (7.1%)	8 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	92 (12.0%)	$10,641							77.7	75.8	564	34

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.