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)
064125006831	271	Walnut Creek Intermediate	Public	6-8	2425 Walnut Blvd.	Walnut Creek	94597	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 944-6840	985	43	22.9	12.9%	503 (51.1%)	35 (3.6%)	158 (16.0%)	176 (17.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	108 (11.0%)	$5,785							90.2	86	356	85
063432005469	272	Grant K-8	Public	K-8	1425 Washington Pl.	San Diego	92103	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 293-4420	721	34	21	32.2%	339 (47.0%)	26 (3.6%)	233 (32.3%)	28 (3.9%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	88 (12.2%)	$7,367							90.2	88.5	318	46
060193814237	273	Trivium Charter School Voyage	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4597 Hollister Dr.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Trivium Charter School Voyage District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 291-1303	297	16	18.2	18.2%	208 (70.0%)	2 (0.7%)	42 (14.1%)	10 (3.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (11.1%)								90.1	82.5	429	156
064251011320	274	Rio Norte Junior High	Public	7-8	28771 Rio Norte Dr.	Santa Clarita	91354	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 295-3700	1,123	47	23.6	11.3%	437 (38.9%)	51 (4.5%)	257 (22.9%)	286 (25.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (7.8%)	$10,609							90.1	92.3	223	51
063432005554	275	Standley Middle	Public	6-8	6298 Radcliffe Dr.	San Diego	92122	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 605-2100	814	33	24.3	38.8%	310 (38.1%)	10 (1.2%)	256 (31.4%)	131 (16.1%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	103 (12.7%)	$7,396							90.1	89.2	294	19
062490003722	276	Taylor Middle	Public	6-8	850 Taylor Blvd.	Millbrae	94030	San Mateo County	Millbrae Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 697-4096	709	31	22.7	26.0%	111 (15.7%)	3 (0.4%)	153 (21.6%)	375 (52.9%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.1%)	50 (7.1%)	$5,013							90	87.2	335	59
060169507533	277	San Jose Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2021 West Alwood St.	West Covina	91790	Los Angeles County	San Jose Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 856-1693	1,258	56	22.6	49.8%	46 (3.7%)	18 (1.4%)	901 (71.6%)	284 (22.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.5%)								89.9	86.4	349	72
062994013343	278	Sierra Madre Middle	Public	6-8	160 North Canon Ave.	Sierra Madre	91024	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5910	574	24	23.5	44.6%	205 (35.7%)	33 (5.7%)	160 (27.9%)	118 (20.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (9.2%)	$8,284							89.9	92.3	230	48
060197611580	279	California Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	4645 Buckeye Rd.	Shingle Springs	95682	El Dorado County	CA Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 672-3095	515	24	21.6	11.5%	387 (75.1%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (10.7%)	26 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.7%)								89.8	85.4	365	86
064032006671	280	Dartmouth Middle	Public	6-8	5575 Dartmouth Dr.	San Jose	95118	Santa Clara County	Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 264-1122	824	36	22.7	15.3%	279 (33.9%)	9 (1.1%)	189 (22.9%)	267 (32.4%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	77 (9.3%)	$7,358							89.7	88.9	307	27

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.