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)
062724004113	351	Horace Ensign Intermediate	Public	7-8	2000 Cliff Dr.	Newport Beach	92663	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6910	924	42	21.9	49.6%	435 (47.1%)	2 (0.2%)	383 (41.5%)	26 (2.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	75 (8.1%)								86.6	90.7	265	86
061062012422	352	Da Vinci Charter Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	1400 East Eighth St.	Davis	95616	Yolo County	Davis Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 757-7154	582	33	17.6	13.7%	332 (57.0%)	15 (2.6%)	120 (20.6%)	41 (7.0%)	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (9.5%)								86.6	84.4	385	33
064116011529	353	Oak Grove Elementary	Public	K-8	4445 West Ferguson Ave.	Visalia	93291	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 622-3105	739	31	24.1	32.3%	236 (31.9%)	5 (0.7%)	357 (48.3%)	85 (11.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	54 (7.3%)	$6,724							86.5	90	279	74
063066008754	354	Parkview	Public, Alternative	K-12	2189 North Kraemer Blvd.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7050	176	7	24.6	18.8%	71 (40.3%)	1 (0.6%)	63 (35.8%)	23 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (10.2%)	$5,771							86.4	92.9	209	145
063588006144	355	Rio Seco Elementary	Public	K-8	9545 Cuyamaca St.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 956-5500	920	39	23.7	28.7%	482 (52.4%)	7 (0.8%)	240 (26.1%)	62 (6.7%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	124 (13.5%)	$9,344							86.4	83.1	409	54
062256002772	356	Loomis Elementary	Public	K-8	3505 Taylor Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1824	445	22	19.9	27.6%	313 (70.3%)	2 (0.4%)	66 (14.8%)	26 (5.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (8.3%)	$6,250							86.4	82.7	419	63
063846006465	357	Sunnyvale Middle	Public	6-8	1080 Mango Ave.	Sunnyvale	94087	Santa Clara County	Sunnyvale	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 522-8288	1,037	54	19	21.3%	256 (24.7%)	15 (1.4%)	302 (29.1%)	354 (34.1%)	11 (1.1%)	6 (0.6%)	93 (9.0%)	$11,882							86.4	88.7	313	44
060784007271	358	Cayucos Elementary	Public	K-8	301 Cayucos Dr.	Cayucos	93430	San Luis Obispo County	Cayucos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 995-3694	180	13	13.3	25.6%	111 (61.7%)	1 (0.6%)	50 (27.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (10.0%)	$16,861							86.4	87	337	21
060591011574	359	Adams (J. Douglas) Middle	Public	6-8	401 American Ave.	Brentwood	94513	Contra Costa County	Brentwood Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 513-6480	1,119	48	23.5	16.7%	279 (24.9%)	125 (11.2%)	240 (21.4%)	333 (29.8%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.4%)	135 (12.1%)	$5,478							86.3	84.3	392	33
060222610833	360	Ocean Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	12870 Panama St.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Ocean Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 827-5511	561	22	25.4	27.1%	276 (49.2%)	10 (1.8%)	153 (27.3%)	26 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	94 (16.8%)								86.2	79.4	501	141

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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