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)
063801012281	2251	Spanos (Alex G.) Elementary	Public	K-8	536 South California St.	Stockton	95203	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7470	484	18	26.5	92.4%	5 (1.0%)	18 (3.7%)	429 (88.6%)	27 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$7,379							20.2	13.9	2562	311
060233813799	2252	Northern Summit Academy Shasta	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2301 Balls Ferry Rd.	Anderson	96007	Shasta County	Northern Summit Academy Shasta District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 338-1399	184	12	14.9	59.2%	123 (66.8%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (17.9%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (13.0%)								20.1	23.9	2108	144
060199608658	2253	Yuba City Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	256 Wilbur Ave.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Yuba City Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-9667	268	18	15	81.3%	49 (18.3%)	1 (0.4%)	182 (67.9%)	16 (6.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	18 (6.7%)								20.1	30.7	1795	458
060231911842	2254	Magnolia Science Academy 2	Public, Charter	6-12	17125 Victory Blvd.	Van Nuys	91406	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-0300	511	20	24.9	84.5%	24 (4.7%)	15 (2.9%)	453 (88.6%)	19 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								20.1	35.4	1619	635
060263000171	2255	Brookhurst Junior High	Public	7-8	601 North Brookhurst Ave.	Anaheim	92801	Orange County	Anaheim Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 999-3613	790	43	18.2	89.5%	29 (3.7%)	19 (2.4%)	666 (84.3%)	57 (7.2%)	8 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.3%)	$12,235							20.1	23	2138	117
060187603939	2256	Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego	Public, Charter	6-12	10170 Huennekens St.	San Diego	92121	San Diego County	Altus Schools Charter School of San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2020	1,415	46	30.6	72.4%	245 (17.3%)	127 (9.0%)	864 (61.1%)	54 (3.8%)	3 (0.2%)	6 (0.4%)	101 (7.1%)								20.1	20.8	2224	32
062361003578	2257	French Camp Elementary	Public	K-8	241 East Fourth St.	French Camp	95231	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6370	604	26	23.2	79.1%	49 (8.1%)	6 (1.0%)	530 (87.7%)	8 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (1.5%)	$6,390							20	19.8	2281	24
060215310951	2258	Liberty Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	26247 Ellis St.	Madera	93638	Madera County	Liberty Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 675-2070	650	26	25	92.2%	14 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	623 (95.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.7%)								20	19.9	2277	19
062460003696	2259	Tenaya Middle	Public	7-8	760 West Eighth St.	Merced	95340	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6687	563	22	25	94.7%	20 (3.6%)	19 (3.4%)	485 (86.1%)	29 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (1.6%)	$8,080							19.9	20.8	2228	31
060258113884	2260	Astronaut Jose' M. Hernandez Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	703 East Swain Rd.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	Astronaut Jose' M. Hernandez Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-9219	214	11	19.3	77.6%	4 (1.9%)	22 (10.3%)	158 (73.8%)	20 (9.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	7 (3.3%)								19.9	11.9	2631	371

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.