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)
063237010019	2041	Zupanic Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	266 West Randall Ave.	Rialto	92376	San Bernardino County	Rialto Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(909) 820-8110	598	21	28.7	85.6%	17 (2.8%)	63 (10.5%)	496 (82.9%)	6 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.2%)	$12,633							24.7	15.6	2487	446
060681000613	2042	Flying Hills School of Arts	Public	K-8	1251 Finch St.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3132	727	28	25.7	65.6%	243 (33.4%)	63 (8.7%)	306 (42.1%)	15 (2.1%)	3 (0.4%)	9 (1.2%)	87 (12.0%)	$10,894							24.7	36	1595	447
060191213776	2043	Summit Public School K2	Public, Charter	7-12	1800 Elm St.	El Cerrito	94530	Contra Costa County	Summit Public School K2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 374-4093	506	25	20.3	72.1%	16 (3.2%)	60 (11.9%)	360 (71.1%)	40 (7.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.3%)								24.6	32.6	1716	327
061455001704	2044	Ahwahnee Middle	Public	7-8	1127 East Escalon Ave.	Fresno	93710	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 451-4300	639	36	17.8	85.9%	93 (14.6%)	54 (8.5%)	412 (64.5%)	44 (6.9%)	7 (1.1%)	4 (0.6%)	24 (3.8%)	$9,669							24.6	23.4	2131	87
063432011157	2045	Golden Hill K-8	Public	K-8	1240 33rd St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 236-5600	429	22	19.4	71.8%	47 (11.0%)	12 (2.8%)	340 (79.3%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (5.4%)	$9,378							24.6	45.3	1303	742
061455001765	2046	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	4050 East Hamilton Ave.	Fresno	93702	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3210	858	46	18.7	96.9%	13 (1.5%)	32 (3.7%)	678 (79.0%)	122 (14.2%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	6 (0.7%)	$9,091							24.5	21.8	2189	143
064320007016	2047	Wright Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4389 Price Ave.	Santa Rosa	95407	Sonoma County	Wright Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 542-0556	457	21	21.8	68.3%	89 (19.5%)	11 (2.4%)	308 (67.4%)	28 (6.1%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.3%)								24.5	25.1	2046	1
061455001744	2048	Kings Canyon Middle	Public	7-8	5117 East Tulare St.	Fresno	93727	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6470	932	47	19.7	95.7%	26 (2.8%)	51 (5.5%)	686 (73.6%)	153 (16.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.4%)	$8,392							24.5	25	2051	3
063432005419	2049	Bell Middle	Public	6-8	620 Briarwood Rd.	San Diego	92139	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 430-1000	776	34	23	77.3%	27 (3.5%)	95 (12.2%)	390 (50.3%)	176 (22.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.9%)	81 (10.4%)	$8,913							24.5	26.1	1989	60
069113511243	2050	Lakeside Middle	Public	7-8	27720 Walnut St.	Perris	92571	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 443-2440	1,085	46	23.5	86.5%	44 (4.1%)	100 (9.2%)	879 (81.0%)	28 (2.6%)	7 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	24 (2.2%)	$5,169							24.5	21.7	2196	146

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.