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)
062703012204	2221	New Jerusalem	Public, Charter	1-8	31400 South Koster Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	New Jerusalem Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 835-2597	233	9	26.3	61.4%	93 (39.9%)	2 (0.9%)	130 (55.8%)	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.1%)	$9,687							20.8	17.9	2380	159
061674002137	2222	Winton Middle	Public	7-8	119 Winton Ave.	Hayward	94540	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3140	498	24	21	83.3%	15 (3.0%)	43 (8.6%)	372 (74.7%)	38 (7.6%)	2 (0.4%)	10 (2.0%)	18 (3.6%)								20.8	22.1	2172	50
060962004608	2223	Enterprise Middle	Public	6-8	2600 West Compton Blvd.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6030	229	10	23.2	65.1%	0 (0.0%)	75 (32.8%)	152 (66.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)								20.8	28	1903	320
060166712634	2224	Aspire Pacific Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	2565 58th St.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Aspire Pacific Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 589-2800	517	18	29.2	87.6%	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	484 (93.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.6%)								20.8	14.3	2539	315
061329011599	2225	Fairfax Junior High	Public	5-8	1500 South Fairfax Rd.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Fairfax Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 366-4461	612	30	20.2	89.1%	24 (3.9%)	25 (4.1%)	539 (88.1%)	10 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.1%)	$4,972							20.8	17.8	2389	164
063227007336	2226	Kettleman City Elementary	Public	K-8	701 General Petroleum St.	Kettleman City	93239	Kings County	Reef-Sunset Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 386-5702	237	12	19.7	91.1%	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	235 (99.2%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,350							20.8	21	2218	8
063583006121	2227	Herbert Slater Middle	Public	7-8	3500 Sonoma Ave.	Santa Rosa	95405	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3880	716	35	20.7	52.2%	176 (24.6%)	18 (2.5%)	435 (60.8%)	20 (2.8%)	3 (0.4%)	14 (2.0%)	43 (6.0%)	$9,933							20.7	21.7	2193	34
060240313890	2228	Aspire Richmond Ca. College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	3040 Hilltop Mall Rd.	Richmond	94806	Contra Costa County	Aspire Richmond Ca. College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 684-8900	591	28	21	69.2%	8 (1.4%)	66 (11.2%)	436 (73.8%)	40 (6.8%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (6.1%)								20.7	19.2	2316	88
063801006425	2229	Monroe Elementary	Public	K-8	2236 East 11th St.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7250	480	17	28.2	89.0%	12 (2.5%)	43 (9.0%)	342 (71.3%)	65 (13.5%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.3%)	$7,334							20.6	14	2556	327
060006105115	2230	Cardozo Middle	Public	6-8	3525 Santa Fe St.	Riverbank	95367	Stanislaus County	Riverbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 869-2591	502	30	16.7	61.4%	73 (14.5%)	3 (0.6%)	398 (79.3%)	4 (0.8%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.0%)	$9,829							20.6	24.5	2071	159

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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:

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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.