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)
063438005576	341	Oak Crest Middle	Public	7-8	675 Balour Dr.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 753-6241	802	34	23.8	23.6%	499 (62.2%)	3 (0.4%)	202 (25.2%)	24 (3.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (8.7%)	$7,966							87	89.1	297	44
063570014384	342	Malibu Middle	Public	6-8	30237 Morning View Dr.	Malibu	90265	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 457-6801	255	17	14.8	11.8%	194 (76.1%)	4 (1.6%)	36 (14.1%)	10 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.3%)	$9,536							87	84.9	376	34
060004306173	343	Scotts Valley Middle	Public	6-8	8 Bean Creek Rd.	Scotts Valley	95066	Santa Cruz County	Scotts Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 438-0610	481	23	21.3	11.6%	310 (64.4%)	2 (0.4%)	95 (19.8%)	32 (6.7%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (7.9%)	$7,226							86.9	86.8	343
062211002636	344	William Mendenhall Middle	Public	6-8	1701 El Padro Dr.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4731	883	37	23.5	15.5%	440 (49.8%)	6 (0.7%)	172 (19.5%)	174 (19.7%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	88 (10.0%)	$6,144							86.9	90.5	272	72
063697211114	345	University Preparatory	Public	7-12	13853 Seneca Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Victor Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 243-5940	1,120	41	27	54.3%	113 (10.1%)	50 (4.5%)	790 (70.5%)	113 (10.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	46 (4.1%)	$4,650							86.9	86	355	10
063066004772	346	Col. J. K. Tuffree Middle	Public	7-8	2151 North Kraemer Blvd.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7480	595	26	22.9	47.2%	181 (30.4%)	10 (1.7%)	292 (49.1%)	93 (15.6%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (2.0%)	$6,187							86.9	78.7	519	173
068450009467	347	Alternative Education-San Joaquin High	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	3387 Barranca Pkwy.	Irvine	92606	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 936-7440	182	15	11.8	28.6%	56 (30.8%)	6 (3.3%)	23 (12.6%)	80 (44.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (8.8%)	$48,295							86.7	95.5	137	210
060216110431	348	Live Oak Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	100 Gnoss Concourse Bldg. 1	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Live Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 762-9020	252	13	19.1	15.9%	182 (72.2%)	2 (0.8%)	32 (12.7%)	5 (2.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (11.5%)								86.7	81.8	447	99
061977002379	349	Kings River-Hardwick Elementary	Public, Charter	K-8	10300 Excelsior Ave.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Kings River-Hardwick Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 584-4475	823	35	23.4	30.0%	385 (46.8%)	3 (0.4%)	378 (45.9%)	15 (1.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (5.0%)								86.7	85.3	370	21
062271009151	350	Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies	Public, Alternative	4-12	18605 Erwin St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-5600	1,786	73	24.3	52.5%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,629							86.7	86.1	350

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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