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)
063543001599	631	Juan Cabrillo Middle	Public	6-8	2550 Cabrillo Ave.	Santa Clara	95051	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-3700	817	43	18.8	45.5%	112 (13.7%)	21 (2.6%)	337 (41.2%)	286 (35.0%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	53 (6.5%)	$11,220							73.1	71.5	654	23
064251007369	632	Learning Post Academy (Alternative)	Public, Virtual	7-12	24825 North Newhall Ave.	Santa Clarita	91321	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 255-8338	385	15	25.7	24.7%	170 (44.2%)	14 (3.6%)	145 (37.7%)	27 (7.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (7.0%)	$9,234							73	57.4	974	342
062784004226	633	Oak Grove Elementary/Willowside Middle	Public, Charter	1-8	5299 Hall Rd.	Santa Rosa	95401	Sonoma County	Oak Grove Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 542-0171	742	34	21.8	25.9%	437 (58.9%)	7 (0.9%)	226 (30.5%)	18 (2.4%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (5.9%)	$8,626							73	57.9	966	333
062781004205	634	Bernal Intermediate	Public	7-8	6610 San Ignacio Ave.	San Jose	95119	Santa Clara County	Oak Grove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 578-5731	636	31	20.8	28.9%	99 (15.6%)	24 (3.8%)	289 (45.4%)	167 (26.3%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.3%)	48 (7.5%)	$11,691							73	69.3	695	61
060985001048	635	Corona Fundamental Intermediate	Public	6-8	1230 South Main St.	Corona	92882	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 736-3321	733	29	25.7	79.7%	75 (10.2%)	14 (1.9%)	496 (67.7%)	125 (17.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	21 (2.9%)	$9,027							72.8	60.8	881	246
062472003705	636	Mesa Elementary	Public	K-8	3901 North Mesa School Rd.	Somis	93066	Ventura County	Mesa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 485-1411	564	28	20.3	36.0%	75 (13.3%)	4 (0.7%)	436 (77.3%)	24 (4.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.1%)	$9,182							72.7	67.5	733	97
062308003528	637	Paulding Middle	Public	7-8	600 Crown Hill St.	Arroyo Grande	93420	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3500	536	28	18.9	46.6%	298 (55.6%)	4 (0.7%)	183 (34.1%)	15 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	33 (6.2%)	$4,867							72.7	77.1	547	90
060159513960	638	Redding STEM Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3711 Oasis Rd.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Redding STEM Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 275-5480	245	13	19.4	60.0%	167 (68.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (11.0%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (17.1%)								72.6	78.7	520	118
060201210451	639	Golden Valley Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3585 Maple St. Ste. 101	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Golden Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 642-3435	439	13	33.7	31.0%	204 (46.5%)	10 (2.3%)	137 (31.2%)	20 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	66 (15.0%)								72.5	76.5	554	85
060196914072	640	John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1102 Investment Blvd.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 780-6800	1,217	54	22.5	14.5%	860 (70.7%)	26 (2.1%)	161 (13.2%)	64 (5.3%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.4%)	99 (8.1%)								72.5	72	641	1

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.