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)
062759009412	1861	North Monterey County Center for Independent Study	Public, Alternative	K-12	17500 Pesante Rd.	Salinas	93907	Monterey County	North Monterey County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 633-7050	131	5	25.8	77.1%	26 (19.8%)	0 (0.0%)	99 (75.6%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	$5,355							28.8	25.4	2030	169
063417005386	1862	Serrano Middle	Public	7-8	3131 Piedmont Dr.	Highland	92346	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 388-6530	685	42	16.3	92.4%	20 (2.9%)	71 (10.4%)	557 (81.3%)	22 (3.2%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (1.6%)	$6,479							28.8	24.2	2094	232
063462005752	1863	Arcade Fundamental Middle	Public	6-8	3500 Edison Ave.	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7300	391	18	21.7	72.1%	149 (38.1%)	26 (6.6%)	89 (22.8%)	99 (25.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	24 (6.1%)	$7,758							28.8	32.4	1722	141
061269011171	1864	Norman N. Glick Middle	Public	7-8	400 Frazine Rd.	Modesto	95357	Stanislaus County	Empire Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 577-3945	601	32	19	82.0%	102 (17.0%)	22 (3.7%)	420 (69.9%)	21 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (1.7%)	25 (4.2%)	$10,936							28.7	35.1	1624	240
060002709496	1865	Terra Cotta Middle	Public	6-8	29291 Lake St.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7380	1,064	40	26.3	80.4%	129 (12.1%)	31 (2.9%)	846 (79.5%)	27 (2.5%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	26 (2.4%)	$6,913							28.7	24.9	2053	188
064030007172	1866	Eagle Peak Middle	Public	5-8	8601 West Rd.	Redwood Valley	95470	Mendocino County	Ukiah Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 472-5250	536	29	18.5	77.4%	231 (43.1%)	0 (0.0%)	247 (46.1%)	1 (0.2%)	34 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.3%)	$6,624							28.7	29.9	1823	43
060639009334	1867	O. J. Actis Junior High	Public	7-8	2400 Westholme Blvd.	Bakersfield	93309	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 833-1250	700	37	18.9	85.9%	85 (12.1%)	80 (11.4%)	478 (68.3%)	22 (3.1%)	4 (0.6%)	7 (1.0%)	24 (3.4%)	$14,051							28.7	47.3	1244	623
061962010692	1868	Barbara Spratling Middle	Public	6-8	5277 Washington Rd.	Hughson	95326	Stanislaus County	Keyes Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 664-3833	231	12	19	89.6%	16 (6.9%)	1 (0.4%)	196 (84.8%)	14 (6.1%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)								28.7	45.3	1302	566
060243214070	1869	Fortune	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6829 Stockton Blvd. Ste. 380	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Fortune District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 273-1030	1,747	88	19.8	73.8%	18 (1.0%)	1,075 (61.5%)	354 (20.3%)	30 (1.7%)	10 (0.6%)	14 (0.8%)	246 (14.1%)								28.6	24.2	2095	226
062271014634	1870	Leadership & Public Service Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1435 West 27th St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(213) 316-9840	672	35	18.9	88.8%	52 (7.7%)	105 (15.6%)	483 (71.9%)	13 (1.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	16 (2.4%)								28.6	18.7	2346	476

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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