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)
063801006405	2131	Elmwood Elementary	Public	K-8	840 South Cardinal Ave.	Stockton	95215	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7180	681	27	25.1	78.0%	57 (8.4%)	6 (0.9%)	580 (85.2%)	27 (4.0%)	6 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	$6,532							22.8	18.2	2368	237
063579012689	2132	John Gutierrez Middle	Public	6-8	1031 Rogge Rd.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-3300	605	30	19.8	61.7%	36 (6.0%)	7 (1.2%)	537 (88.8%)	9 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (2.1%)	$4,138							22.7	26.2	1983	149
063417014659	2133	Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1885 E Lynwood Dr	San Bernardino	92404	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(909) 888-0763	439	35	12.6	92.0%	33 (7.5%)	47 (10.7%)	330 (75.2%)	10 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	17 (3.9%)								22.7	17.6	2405	272
060522007440	2134	Black Butte Junior High	Public	6-8	7946 Ponderosa Way	Shingletown	96088	Shasta County	Black Butte Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 474-3441	79	4	22.3	73.4%	46 (58.2%)	2 (2.5%)	17 (21.5%)	1 (1.3%)	4 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (11.4%)								22.7	25.6	2017	117
064158006854	2135	Elkhorn Village Elementary	Public	K-8	750 Cummins Way	West Sacramento	95605	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7670	598	30	20.1	86.1%	42 (7.0%)	21 (3.5%)	487 (81.4%)	13 (2.2%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	29 (4.8%)	$6,649							22.7	23.1	2136	1
060196012908	2136	Animo James B. Taylor Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	810 East 111th Pl.	Los Angeles	90059	Los Angeles County	Animo James B. Taylor Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 568-8613	486	23	21.4	96.1%	5 (1.0%)	61 (12.6%)	418 (86.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)								22.7	20.3	2255	119
060930000940	2137	Colfax Elementary	Public	K-8	24825 Ben Taylor Rd.	Colfax	95713	Placer County	Colfax Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 346-2202	334	17	20.1	44.9%	262 (78.4%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (11.7%)	3 (0.9%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (7.8%)	$9,212							22.7	36.5	1575	562
062025013954	2138	Trust Blended Learning	Public, Virtual	K-8	10355 Loma Ln.	Spring Valley	91978	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 771-6080	52	5	11.1	61.5%	8 (15.4%)	2 (3.8%)	33 (63.5%)	5 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (7.7%)	$12,837							22.6	27.7	1923	215
062922004508	2139	Kamala Elementary	Public	K-8	634 West Kamala St.	Oxnard	93033	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1548	882	43	20.5	95.1%	7 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	869 (98.5%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$3,410							22.5	20	2272	133
064347010154	2140	Yuba City Independence Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	984 B St.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 822-5244	101	7	13.5	84.2%	33 (32.7%)	5 (5.0%)	46 (45.5%)	5 (5.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (10.9%)	$7,285							22.5			(n/a)

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.