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)
061887002284	1581	Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elementary	Public	K-8	1200 Skyline Dr.	Daly City	94015	San Mateo County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 991-1230	346	20	17.5	44.8%	25 (7.2%)	8 (2.3%)	108 (31.2%)	168 (48.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	35 (10.1%)	$14,008							36.4	30.8	1790	209
062271013138	1582	Walnut Park Mid B Sci Technical Engr and Math Academy	Public	6-8	7500 Marbrisa Ave.	Walnut Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 277-2600	338	17	19.5	90.2%	8 (2.4%)	2 (0.6%)	325 (96.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$8,756							36.3	33.6	1683	101
060158913273	1583	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 8	Public, Charter	6-8	113 South Rowan Ave.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 8 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 269-2156	392	20	19.6	95.4%	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	385 (98.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)								36.3	25.9	2004	421
063462008284	1584	San Juan Choices Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	4425 Laurelwood Way	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 979-8378	277	16	16.9	41.2%	151 (54.5%)	31 (11.2%)	63 (22.7%)	13 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (5.1%)	$7,930							36.2	28.5	1873	289
060223612768	1585	Mission Preparatory	Public, Charter	K-8	1050 York St.	San Francisco	94110	San Francisco County	Mission Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 508-9626	490	24	20.8	78.0%	19 (3.9%)	30 (6.1%)	396 (80.8%)	33 (6.7%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.0%)	6 (1.2%)								36.1	44.5	1326	259
062073002489	1586	Lakeside	Public	K-8	14535 Old River Rd.	Bakersfield	93311	Kern County	Lakeside Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 831-3503	864	36	24	61.9%	97 (11.2%)	42 (4.9%)	590 (68.3%)	69 (8.0%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (6.9%)	$8,023							36	33.5	1684	98
060188411996	1587	California Virtual Academy at Kings	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Kings District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	575	21	27.7	73.4%	163 (28.3%)	15 (2.6%)	328 (57.0%)	28 (4.9%)	3 (0.5%)	5 (0.9%)	33 (5.7%)								36	35.8	1601	14
060175414060	1588	Scholarship Prep - Orange County	Public, Charter	K-8	1010 West 17th St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Scholarship Prep - Orange County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 795-3498	657	24	27.4	92.5%	5 (0.8%)	7 (1.1%)	626 (95.3%)	10 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	5 (0.8%)								35.9	35.9	1597	9
062827004376	1589	Nordhoff Junior High	Public	7-8	1401 Maricopa Hwy	Ojai	93023	Ventura County	Ojai Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 640-4343	281	15	19.1	38.8%	152 (54.1%)	1 (0.4%)	111 (39.5%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.0%)								35.9	44.4	1329	260
064119009459	1590	Roosevelt Middle	Public	6-8	850 Sagewood Dr.	Oceanside	92057	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 726-8003	706	39	17.9	64.0%	138 (19.5%)	11 (1.6%)	483 (68.4%)	17 (2.4%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.3%)	43 (6.1%)	$7,962							35.9	29.5	1839	249

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.