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)
063531005982	2261	Gerald P. Carr Intermediate	Public	6-8	2120 West Edinger St.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 480-4100	958	54	17.8	87.8%	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	924 (96.5%)	25 (2.6%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	$6,647							19.9	22.3	2166	95
062409003639	2262	Yuba Gardens Intermediate	Public	7-8	1964 11th Ave.	Olivehurst	95961	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 741-6194	724	38	19.2	75.0%	139 (19.2%)	31 (4.3%)	406 (56.1%)	106 (14.6%)	8 (1.1%)	2 (0.3%)	32 (4.4%)								19.9	17	2428	166
060231013126	2263	Renaissance at Mathson	Public	6-8	2050 Kammerer Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-6800	318	19	16.5	80.2%	3 (0.9%)	2 (0.6%)	263 (82.7%)	44 (13.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	4 (1.3%)	$13,323							19.8	19.4	2305	42
060239007219	2264	San Jacinto Valley Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	480 North San Jacinto Ave.	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Valley Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 654-6113	1,569	81	19.2	65.5%	321 (20.5%)	73 (4.7%)	1,065 (67.9%)	38 (2.4%)	21 (1.3%)	6 (0.4%)	45 (2.9%)								19.8	28.8	1864	400
063583006133	2265	Santa Rosa Middle	Public	7-8	500 E St.	Santa Rosa	95404	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3865	458	25	18.1	51.3%	92 (20.1%)	11 (2.4%)	309 (67.5%)	19 (4.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (5.0%)	$10,667							19.7	18.2	2365	100
063801006424	2266	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-8	30 West Ninth St.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7245	740	27	27.7	84.3%	3 (0.4%)	24 (3.2%)	638 (86.2%)	59 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	11 (1.5%)	$6,857							19.7	15.3	2496	230
061495001682	2267	Buckeye School of the Arts	Public	K-8	3407 Hiatt Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Gateway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 225-0420	451	29	15.5	86.0%	259 (57.4%)	8 (1.8%)	100 (22.2%)	26 (5.8%)	23 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.8%)	$7,544							19.7	18	2375	108
063509005934	2268	Venetia Valley K-8	Public	K-8	177 North San Pedro Rd.	San Rafael	94903	Marin County	San Rafael City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 492-3150	771	38	20.2	89.8%	54 (7.0%)	4 (0.5%)	670 (86.9%)	19 (2.5%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (2.6%)	$8,795							19.7	17.6	2402	134
060224712930	2269	Guajome Learning Centers	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2000 North Santa Fe Ave.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Guajome Learning Centers District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-8500	75	4	19.1	45.3%	15 (20.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (70.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (8.0%)								19.7			(n/a)
063864006476	2270	Castle Park Middle	Public	7-8	160 Quintard St.	Chula Vista	91911	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 691-5490	673	35	19.2	68.5%	22 (3.3%)	17 (2.5%)	600 (89.2%)	26 (3.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.7%)	$8,234							19.6	21.6	2198	72

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.