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)
060003601114	2521	Bannon Creek	Public	K-8	2775 Millcreek Dr.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5600	457	22	20.7	80.1%	48 (10.5%)	140 (30.6%)	177 (38.7%)	37 (8.1%)	6 (1.3%)	9 (2.0%)	40 (8.8%)	$7,396							13.7	7.8	2749	228
062271003456	2522	Western Avenue Technology Magnet	Public	K-8	1724 West 53rd St.	Los Angeles	90062	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 295-3261	540	30	17.9	95.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,500							13.7	15.9	2470	52
062271003202	2523	Johnnie Cochran Junior Middle	Public	6-8	4066 West Johnnie Cochran Vist	Los Angeles	90019	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 730-4300	545	30	18.4	99.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,880							13.7	12.9	2596	73
063801010392	2524	Dolores Huerta Elementary	Public	K-8	1644 South Lincoln	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7220	475	15	31.6	90.9%	6 (1.3%)	15 (3.2%)	431 (90.7%)	10 (2.1%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.1%)	$5,972							13.7	16.9	2434	90
060558009317	2525	Fesler (Isaac) Junior High	Public	7-8	1100 East Fesler St.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-7880	959	51	18.7	86.0%	24 (2.5%)	3 (0.3%)	922 (96.1%)	6 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$7,927							13.6	17.9	2383	142
061944008861	2526	Lake Los Angeles Elementary	Public	K-8	16310 East Avenue Q	Palmdale	93591	Los Angeles County	Keppel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 264-3700	474	20	23.2	73.6%	32 (6.8%)	16 (3.4%)	417 (88.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	4 (0.8%)								13.5	11.6	2642	116
060235902619	2527	Options for Youth-Victor Valley Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	14120 Bear Valley Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Options for Youth-Victor Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 241-8300	748	26	28.9	88.9%	100 (13.4%)	110 (14.7%)	504 (67.4%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	25 (3.3%)								13.4	10.7	2682	155
061734002179	2528	Ladd Lane Elementary	Public	K-8	161 Ladd Ln.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4490	776	35	22.4	45.1%	173 (22.3%)	10 (1.3%)	531 (68.4%)	23 (3.0%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	32 (4.1%)	$7,024							13.4	19.2	2314	214
063789006391	2529	Standard Middle	Public	6-8	126 Ferguson Ave.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Standard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 392-2130	991	51	19.5	88.5%	487 (49.1%)	35 (3.5%)	423 (42.7%)	6 (0.6%)	9 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (3.0%)	$7,302							13.4	18.9	2332	197
062610013049	2530	Mountain Empire Junior High	Public	7-8	3305 Buckman Springs Rd.	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 326-6662	114	6	17.8	72.8%	10 (8.8%)	1 (0.9%)	101 (88.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	$9,501							13.4	15	2510	20

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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