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)
062825004373	1211	Santa Margarita Elementary	Public	K-8	1 Carnes Rd.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-7900	556	25	22.6	64.7%	203 (36.5%)	35 (6.3%)	241 (43.3%)	19 (3.4%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.3%)	49 (8.8%)	$12,675							48	49.8	1173	38
062187012687	1212	Reagan Elementary	Public	K-8	340 North Harvard	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-1311	373	17	21.9	91.4%	25 (6.7%)	2 (0.5%)	341 (91.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	$8,075							48	46.4	1276	64
060170408677	1213	Ascend	Public, Charter	K-8	3709 East 12th St.	Oakland	94601	Alameda County	ASCEND District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3140	481	22	21.6	85.9%	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.9%)	446 (92.7%)	11 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.5%)								47.9	35.4	1618	405
063025004724	1214	Petaluma Junior High	Public	7-8	700 Bantam Way	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4724	428	23	18.9	44.9%	239 (55.8%)	3 (0.7%)	151 (35.3%)	6 (1.4%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	20 (4.7%)	$7,551							47.9	60.3	896	318
060170113671	1215	Empire Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27740 Jefferson Ave.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Empire Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	1,582	54	29.1	55.8%	447 (28.3%)	111 (7.0%)	879 (55.6%)	53 (3.4%)	6 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	82 (5.2%)								47.9	46.5	1273	58
061632502051	1216	Lassalette	Public	K-8	14333 Lassalette St.	La Puente	91744	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-3000	425	20	20.9	88.0%	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	388 (91.3%)	27 (6.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)								47.9	41.8	1403	187
061970002364	1217	Citrus Middle	Public	6-8	1400 Anchor Ave.	Orange Cove	93646	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7370	587	26	22.3	96.9%	11 (1.9%)	6 (1.0%)	566 (96.4%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$6,677							47.9	43.1	1370	153
064015003488	1218	C. E. Utt Middle	Public	6-8	13601 Browning Ave.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7573	567	26	22	76.9%	62 (10.9%)	13 (2.3%)	433 (76.4%)	41 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	15 (2.6%)	$10,100							47.8	41.7	1410	192
063684006272	1219	Valley View Middle	Public	6-8	3347 Tapo St.	Simi Valley	93063	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6820	1,212	50	24.1	40.5%	559 (46.1%)	24 (2.0%)	426 (35.1%)	122 (10.1%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	77 (6.4%)	$6,398							47.8	50.4	1155	64
060003406983	1220	Cali Calmecac Language Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	9491 Starr Rd.	Windsor	95492	Sonoma County	Windsor Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 837-7747	1,099	51	21.6	60.3%	222 (20.2%)	2 (0.2%)	835 (76.0%)	8 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	31 (2.8%)	$7,575							47.7	45	1311	91

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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