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)
061401012023	2301	Forestville Academy	Public, Charter	2-8	6321 Highway 116	Forestville	95436	Sonoma County	Forestville Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 887-2279	170	10	17.3	40.0%	103 (60.6%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (32.9%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.9%)								18.8	20.2	2259	42
062982004639	2302	Paradise Junior High	Public	7-8	5657 Recreation Dr.	Paradise	95969	Butte County	Paradise Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-6465	164	10	16.6	70.1%	131 (79.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	11 (6.7%)								18.8	18.8	2338	36
063531007596	2303	Raymond A. Villa Fundamental Intermediate	Public	6-8	1441 East Chestnut Ave.	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 558-5100	1,082	49	22.3	71.3%	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1,061 (98.1%)	17 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$5,781							18.8	15.7	2479	176
060004714472	2304	Tracy Independent Study Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1904 North Corral Hollow Rd.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(209) 830-3200	300	19	15.6	63.0%	43 (14.3%)	32 (10.7%)	151 (50.3%)	40 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.7%)	29 (9.7%)								18.8	25.2	2038	266
062994004667	2305	Charles W. Eliot Middle	Public	6-8	2184 North Lake Ave.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5680	423	26	16.5	84.4%	56 (13.2%)	91 (21.5%)	239 (56.5%)	15 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.3%)	$10,560							18.7	21.3	2209	96
060253214481	2306	Aspire Stockton 6-12 Secondary Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2428 Belleview Ave.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Aspire Stockton 6-12 Secondary Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 337-3010	142	4	33.8	90.8%	3 (2.1%)	45 (31.7%)	71 (50.0%)	13 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.0%)								18.7	19.1	2321	15
060798000768	2307	Stratford Elementary	Public	K-8	20227 1st St.	Stratford	93266	Kings County	Central Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 947-3391	295	15	19.6	84.7%	9 (3.1%)	5 (1.7%)	259 (87.8%)	2 (0.7%)	11 (3.7%)	3 (1.0%)	6 (2.0%)	$3,291,517							18.7	23.6	2122	185
060221210459	2308	Aspire Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	400 105th Ave.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Aspire Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 635-7737	451	21	21.4	80.3%	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.0%)	437 (96.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								18.7	13.8	2567	259
063444007603	2309	North Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	1202 East Seventh St.	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 487-7797	844	47	17.8	89.5%	72 (8.5%)	73 (8.6%)	637 (75.5%)	8 (0.9%)	15 (1.8%)	8 (0.9%)	31 (3.7%)	$11,661							18.6	18.9	2331	22
061336001521	2310	Grange Middle	Public	6-8	1975 Blossom Ave.	Fairfield	94533	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 438-1900	780	33	23.7	72.9%	47 (6.0%)	116 (14.9%)	489 (62.7%)	71 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.3%)	47 (6.0%)	$6,366							18.6	16.3	2455	145

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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

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

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