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)
063441005639	121	Lawton Alternative	Public	K-8	1570 31st Ave.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2832	597	29	20.5	46.6%	34 (5.7%)	15 (2.5%)	35 (5.9%)	437 (73.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	73 (12.2%)	$6,103							96.1	97.5	78	43
063459005703	122	Bret Harte Middle	Public	6-8	7050 Bret Harte Dr.	San Jose	95120	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6270	914	43	21.4	12.3%	237 (25.9%)	20 (2.2%)	130 (14.2%)	456 (49.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	67 (7.3%)	$10,757							96.1	96.6	107	15
063492005902	123	Bowditch Middle	Public	6-8	1450 Tarpon St.	Foster City	94404	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7680	908	47	19.4	7.2%	187 (20.6%)	6 (0.7%)	120 (13.2%)	491 (54.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	102 (11.2%)	$6,726							96.1	96.9	103	20
063492005914	124	North Shoreview Montessori	Public	K-8	1301 Cypress Ave.	San Mateo	94401	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7588	291	13	22.3	13.4%	86 (29.6%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (21.3%)	89 (30.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	50 (17.2%)	$7,581							96.1	98	58	66
060744011266	125	Vista del Mar Middle	Public	6-8	1130 Avenue Talega	San Clemente	92673	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5955	549	27	20.5	16.6%	396 (72.1%)	2 (0.4%)	72 (13.1%)	22 (4.0%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (9.7%)	$10,418							96.1	95.9	120	5
062271013968	126	Girls Academic Leadership Academy Dr. Michelle King School STEM	Public	6-12	2328 St. James Place	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 900-4532	758	37	20.6	38.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,662							96	95.8	126
063570006093	127	Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	1501 California Ave.	Santa Monica	90403	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 393-9227	854	46	18.7	22.4%	465 (54.4%)	50 (5.9%)	163 (19.1%)	79 (9.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (10.9%)	$6,711							96	95.1	147	20
063525008474	128	Quail Lake Environmental Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4087 North Quail Lake Dr.	Clovis	93611	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6720	596	26	23.2	31.2%	210 (35.2%)	9 (1.5%)	208 (34.9%)	130 (21.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	38 (6.4%)	$8,325							95.9	95.3	143	15
068450013996	129	Beacon Park	Public	K-8	200 Cultivate	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-8400	1,035	36	28.3	14.1%	186 (18.0%)	11 (1.1%)	84 (8.1%)	653 (63.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (9.6%)	$6,153							95.9	96.4	109	20
060181112647	130	Cottonwood Creek Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	3425 Brush St.	Cottonwood	96022	Shasta County	Cottonwood Creek Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 347-7200	261	11	23.3	31.8%	214 (82.0%)	1 (0.4%)	22 (8.4%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (8.0%)								95.8	89.7	284	154

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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