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)
063417005361	1641	Golden Valley Middle	Public	6-8	3800 Waterman Ave.	San Bernardino	92404	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 881-8168	754	37	20.2	92.2%	40 (5.3%)	64 (8.5%)	621 (82.4%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.7%)	16 (2.1%)	$6,192							34.6	29.6	1832	191
060171013994	1642	Melva Davis Academy of Excellence	Public	6-8	15831 Diamond Rd.	Victorville	92394	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 246-8691	827	43	19	76.8%	48 (5.8%)	98 (11.9%)	606 (73.3%)	18 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	50 (6.0%)								34.6	33.8	1674	32
062271002947	1643	Richard Henry Dana Middle	Public	6-8	1501 South Cabrillo Ave.	San Pedro	90731	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 241-1100	1,424	66	21.6	82.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,643							34.6	28	1907	264
063132004846	1644	Marshall Middle	Public	6-8	1921 Arroyo Ave.	Pomona	91768	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4532	440	22	19.7	97.3%	8 (1.8%)	16 (3.6%)	407 (92.5%)	7 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	$5,455							34.6	22.5	2160	516
060004707384	1645	Monte Vista Middle	Public	6-8	751 West Lowell Ave.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3340	751	39	19.1	70.2%	73 (9.7%)	42 (5.6%)	485 (64.6%)	115 (15.3%)	5 (0.7%)	10 (1.3%)	19 (2.5%)	$7,033							34.5	28.6	1872	227
060210211657	1646	PUC Excel Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1855 North Main St.	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	PUC Excel Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 222-5010	277	17	16.2	93.1%	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.7%)	263 (94.9%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)								34.5	23.5	2125	479
060215413004	1647	KIPP Scholar Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1729 West Martin Luther King J	Los Angeles	90062	Los Angeles County	KIPP Scholar Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 292-2272	362	19	19.1	94.5%	0 (0.0%)	166 (45.9%)	179 (49.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.4%)								34.5	20.8	2226	579
063581011850	1648	Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts	Public, Charter	K-8	756 Humboldt St.	Santa Rosa	95404	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3920	391	23	17.3	34.5%	228 (58.3%)	8 (2.0%)	102 (26.1%)	7 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	40 (10.2%)	$7,504							34.4	36.3	1583	65
060188512347	1649	Magnolia Science Academy 5	Public, Charter	6-12	18238 Sherman Way	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 5 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 705-5676	238	13	17.7	71.8%	9 (3.8%)	3 (1.3%)	212 (89.1%)	12 (5.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)								34.4	39.1	1492	157
063315005158	1650	Sierra Middle	Public	7-8	4950 Central Ave.	Riverside	92504	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7501	830	36	22.9	86.7%	60 (7.2%)	32 (3.9%)	704 (84.8%)	20 (2.4%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.5%)	8 (1.0%)	$9,676							34.3	33.2	1694	44

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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.