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)
060150313795	91	Elevate	Public, Charter	K-8	2285 Murray Ridge Rd.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	Elevate District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 751-4774	461	22	21	34.1%	155 (33.6%)	70 (15.2%)	111 (24.1%)	41 (8.9%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	81 (17.6%)								97	90.6	269	178
061440001687	92	Thornton Middle	Public	6-8	4357 Thornton Ave.	Fremont	94536	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 793-9090	1,302	51	25.7	17.4%	95 (7.3%)	27 (2.1%)	144 (11.1%)	991 (76.1%)	2 (0.2%)	8 (0.6%)	35 (2.7%)	$6,532							97	97.7	66	26
060744014392	93	Esencia Middle	Public	6-8	5 Aprender St.	Rancho Mission Viejo	92694	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-9900	229	13	17.8	20.1%	121 (52.8%)	4 (1.7%)	55 (24.0%)	31 (13.5%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.4%)								96.9	96.3	112	19
064128009654	94	South Pointe Middle	Public	6-8	20671 Larkstone Dr.	Walnut	91789	Los Angeles County	Walnut Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 595-8171	879	36	24.4	26.2%	31 (3.5%)	5 (0.6%)	162 (18.4%)	635 (72.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	45 (5.1%)	$6,250							96.9	96.9	101	7
061488001861	95	Sarah McGarvin Intermediate	Public	7-8	9802 Bishop Pl.	Westminster	92683	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6218	694	26	26.3	74.1%	34 (4.9%)	2 (0.3%)	149 (21.5%)	494 (71.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	11 (1.6%)	$11,670							96.9	97.2	88	7
060202211873	96	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	777 Aileen St.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 384-1415	583	24	24	21.4%	292 (50.1%)	7 (1.2%)	141 (24.2%)	79 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	62 (10.6%)								96.9	98	52	44
063216004977	97	Del Mar Middle	Public	6-8	105 Avenida Miraflores	Tiburon	94920	Marin County	Reed Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 435-1468	385	32	12	5.5%	293 (76.1%)	3 (0.8%)	30 (7.8%)	22 (5.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.8%)								96.8	97	95	2
060903012015	98	Granite Ridge Intermediate	Public	7-8	2770 East International Ave.	Fresno	93730	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-5300	1,118	43	26.1	24.9%	455 (40.7%)	29 (2.6%)	313 (28.0%)	258 (23.1%)	5 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	54 (4.8%)	$5,481							96.8	96	119	21
062250002749	99	Newcomb Academy	Public	K-8	3351 Val Verde Ave.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 430-1250	807	36	22.1	16.4%	270 (33.5%)	46 (5.7%)	302 (37.4%)	81 (10.0%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.5%)	102 (12.6%)	$9,370							96.8	97.6	72	27
061422001625	100	Fulton (Harry C.) Middle	Public	6-8	8778 El Lago St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 375-2816	710	33	21.5	17.3%	205 (28.9%)	2 (0.3%)	102 (14.4%)	362 (51.0%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.8%)	32 (4.5%)	$8,413							96.7	97.7	70	30

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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

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