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)
062580013683	2561	Moreno Valley Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	24521 Cactus Ave.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 571-4970	754	39	19.4	71.6%	49 (6.5%)	112 (14.9%)	534 (70.8%)	15 (2.0%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.5%)	38 (5.0%)	$8,922							12.4	12.8	2604	43
061437001651	2562	Lairon College Preparatory Academy	Public	4-8	3975 Mira Loma	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5775	315	15	20.4	45.1%	4 (1.3%)	7 (2.2%)	267 (84.8%)	37 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								12.4	11.6	2640	78
063801006434	2563	Taylor Leadership Academy	Public	K-8	1101 Lever Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7290	411	19	22.1	86.6%	9 (2.2%)	86 (20.9%)	215 (52.3%)	72 (17.5%)	3 (0.7%)	4 (1.0%)	21 (5.1%)	$7,441							12.4	17.1	2424	139
061111010275	2564	Indio Middle	Public	6-8	81-195 Miles Ave.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3800	784	35	22.1	89.0%	23 (2.9%)	9 (1.1%)	723 (92.2%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (2.7%)	$7,611							12.3	17	2430	134
069102711052	2565	Elinor Lincoln Hickey Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	2040 Ethan Way	Sacramento	95825	Sacramento County	Sacramento County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 228-2074	286	14	20.4	65.0%	69 (24.1%)	72 (25.2%)	93 (32.5%)	14 (4.9%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.7%)	32 (11.2%)	$13,692							12.3	9	2724	159
060169112844	2566	Community School for Creative Education	Public, Charter	K-8	2111 International Blvd.	Oakland	94606	Alameda County	Community School for Creative Education District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 686-4131	183	8	22.8	76.0%	7 (3.8%)	20 (10.9%)	106 (57.9%)	20 (10.9%)	2 (1.1%)	4 (2.2%)	24 (13.1%)								12.3	17.2	2421	145
060182411916	2567	Higher Learning Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	900 Grace Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Higher Learning Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-5183	533	22	24.4	86.1%	65 (12.2%)	107 (20.1%)	210 (39.4%)	99 (18.6%)	4 (0.8%)	23 (4.3%)	25 (4.7%)								12.2	12.2	2624	57
060220914262	2568	Mojave River Academy - Oro Grande	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12384 Palmdale Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Mojave River Academy - Oro Grande District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-3222	734	30	24.8	84.1%	150 (20.4%)	59 (8.0%)	475 (64.7%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	39 (5.3%)								12.2	11.2	2666	98
062664004031	2569	Shearer Elementary	Public	K-8	1590 Elm St.	Napa	94559	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 253-3508	453	17	26.4	87.0%	43 (9.5%)	2 (0.4%)	399 (88.1%)	5 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$6,899							12.2	13.2	2581	12
060837008450	2570	Oakdale	Public, Alternative	K-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	81	3	31.1	77.8%	41 (50.6%)	2 (2.5%)	23 (28.4%)	1 (1.2%)	2 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (13.6%)	$11,184							12.2			(n/a)

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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

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

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