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)
064015014497	61	Legacy Magnet Academy	Public	6-12	15500 Legacy Rd.	Tustin	92782	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2088	806	29	27.6	30.9%	184 (22.8%)	12 (1.5%)	215 (26.7%)	315 (39.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	75 (9.3%)								97.8	97.5	79	18
063432007688	62	Marshall Middle	Public	6-8	9700 Avenue of Nations	San Diego	92131	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 549-5400	1,317	52	25.4	16.4%	501 (38.0%)	18 (1.4%)	152 (11.5%)	451 (34.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	193 (14.7%)	$6,814							97.8	98.1	50	12
068450007375	63	Sierra Vista Middle	Public	7-8	2 Liberty	Irvine	92620	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6600	1,126	42	27.1	16.7%	195 (17.3%)	23 (2.0%)	99 (8.8%)	708 (62.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	95 (8.4%)	$5,515							97.8	98.6	34	29
061440001670	64	John M. Horner Middle	Public	6-8	4350 Irvington Ave.	Fremont	94538	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 656-4000	1,562	63	24.8	17.0%	74 (4.7%)	18 (1.2%)	147 (9.4%)	1,282 (82.1%)	5 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	33 (2.1%)	$6,921							97.8	98.2	48	16
063429005402	65	Central Middle	Public	6-8	757 Cedar St.	San Carlos	94070	San Mateo County	San Carlos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 508-7321	427	20	21	11.2%	247 (57.8%)	1 (0.2%)	76 (17.8%)	53 (12.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	49 (11.5%)	$11,916							97.8	97.1	90	25
063441005360	66	Yu (Alice Fong) Elementary	Public	K-8	1541 12th Ave.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2764	586	20	28.6	33.1%	25 (4.3%)	42 (7.2%)	32 (5.5%)	365 (62.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	118 (20.1%)	$6,103							97.7	98.5	38	28
061029001136	67	Warren E. Hyde Middle	Public	6-8	19325 Bollinger Rd.	Cupertino	95014	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 252-6290	778	39	19.9	22.0%	96 (12.3%)	6 (0.8%)	93 (12.0%)	524 (67.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	57 (7.3%)	$8,077							97.7	98.4	39	28
063513012300	68	Gale Ranch Middle	Public	6-8	6400 Main Branch Rd.	San Ramon	94582	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-1500	1,075	41	26	8.8%	89 (8.3%)	31 (2.9%)	61 (5.7%)	831 (77.3%)	6 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (5.2%)	$5,550							97.7	98.3	41	27
062457003683	69	Hillview Middle	Public	6-8	1100 Elder Ave.	Menlo Park	94025	San Mateo County	Menlo Park City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 326-4341	867	57	15.3	9.6%	463 (53.4%)	8 (0.9%)	183 (21.1%)	123 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	81 (9.3%)	$8,464							97.6	97.4	83	14
063441007841	70	Lilienthal (Claire) Elementary	Public	K-8	3630 Divisadero St.	San Francisco	94123	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 749-3516	669	29	22.8	19.0%	167 (25.0%)	49 (7.3%)	79 (11.8%)	214 (32.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	159 (23.8%)								97.6	98.7	33	37

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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

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.