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Best Middle Schools in Santa Barbara County, CA

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its California rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

9,313

Students

Districts

Top rankedLa Colina Junior High282^nd of 2,740 California middle schools

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Biggest riser

Orcutt Junior High up 406 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Santa Barbara Junior High 16 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

2★

1★

4 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				CSA Spanish Overall (2026)						CSA Spanish Listening (2026)						CSA Spanish Writing (2026)						CSA Spanish Reading (2026)						CAST Science (2026)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2026)						Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)						Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CSA Spanish Overall 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall All Grades	CSA Spanish Listening 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening All Grades	CSA Spanish Writing 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing All Grades	CSA Spanish Reading 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading All Grades	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Cuyama Valley Junior High	Public	7-8	2300 Highway 166	New Cuyama	93254	Santa Barbara County	Cuyama Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(661) 766-4104	0			—															(n/a)																															38.9		35.7				0.0		3.6
Goleta Valley Junior High	Public	7-8	6100 Stow Canyon Rd.	Goleta	93117	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-3486	731	38	19.2	45.6%	257 (35.2%)	7 (1.0%)	356 (48.7%)	49 (6.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (8.1%)	75.2	563^rd of 2740 public middle schools	79.5%		72.1	637^th of 2761 public middle schools	76.9%	74																										45.7	45.7				58.0	56.2	57.2				55.5	50.5	53.1	$17,257	$763	$16,494
La Colina Junior High	Public	7-8	4025 Foothill Rd.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-4506	832	42	19.8	41.5%	408 (49.0%)	2 (0.2%)	333 (40.0%)	27 (3.2%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	55 (6.6%)	89.1	282^nd of 2740 public middle schools	89.7%		88.3	309^th of 2761 public middle schools	88.8%	27																										51.7	51.7				79.4	63.0	70.8				72.2	63.5	67.7	$17,023	$940	$16,083
La Cumbre Junior High	Public	7-8	2255 Modoc Rd.	Santa Barbara	93101	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 687-0761	426	24	17.5	84.5%	34 (8.0%)	1 (0.2%)	383 (89.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	41.8	1436^th of 2740 public middle schools	47.6%		45.9	1300^th of 2761 public middle schools	52.9%	136																										30.1	30.1				41.7	44.0	42.7				31.7	29.3	30.7	$20,851	$1,152	$19,699
Santa Barbara Junior High	Public	7-8	721 East Cota St.	Santa Barbara	93103	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 963-7751	512	32	16.0	79.7%	65 (12.7%)	3 (0.6%)	425 (83.0%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.9%)	38	1555^th of 2740 public middle schools	43.2%		31.9	1758^th of 2761 public middle schools	36.3%	203																										26.3	26.3				43.1	31.3	37.5				41.8	21.5	32.2	$19,907	$1,337	$18,570
Alta Vista	Public, Virtual	7-8	215 East Ortega St.	Santa Barbara	93101	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 966-0883	2	1	2.6	—	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
El Camino Junior High	Public	7-8	219 West El Camino	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-7800	830	45	18.2	97.0%	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	820 (98.8%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11.9	2536^th of 2740 public middle schools	7.4%		13.7	2489^th of 2761 public middle schools	9.9%	47																										11.9	11.9				17.9	26.4	22.3				9.0	12.9	11.0	$22,019	$1,792	$20,227
Fesler (Isaac) Junior High	Public	7-8	1100 East Fesler St.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-7880	974	49	20.0	94.5%	6 (0.6%)	4 (0.4%)	954 (97.9%)	5 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	14.4	2453^rd of 2740 public middle schools	10.5%		13.2	2510^th of 2761 public middle schools	9.1%	57																										17.0	17.0				25.6	24.5	25.0				10.8	12.7	11.8	$21,282	$1,779	$19,503
Arellanes Junior High	Public	7-8	1890 Sandalwood Dr.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-6820	668	37	18.1	93.1%	17 (2.5%)	4 (0.6%)	631 (94.5%)	14 (2.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15	2437^th of 2740 public middle schools	11.1%		18.4	2297^th of 2761 public middle schools	16.8%	140																										13.2	13.2				30.5	22.6	26.5				14.4	13.1	13.8	$22,751	$2,065	$20,686
Kunst (Tommie) Junior High	Public	7-8	930 Hidden Pines Way	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-5800	912	50	18.0	87.5%	23 (2.5%)	2 (0.2%)	852 (93.4%)	24 (2.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	22.3	2115^th of 2740 public middle schools	22.8%		24.8	2017^th of 2761 public middle schools	26.9%	98																										19.0	19.0				36.4	34.1	35.3				15.3	16.0	15.7	$22,612	$2,135	$20,477
Jonata Middle	Public	6-8	301 Second St.	Buellton	93427	Santa Barbara County	Buellton Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 688-4222	168	8	20.0	55.4%	64 (38.1%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (53.6%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.1%)	65.7	798^th of 2740 public middle schools	70.9%		73.5	615^th of 2761 public middle schools	77.7%	183																										34.0	34.0			62.3	71.4	58.0	63.8			35.9	35.4	42.0	37.8	$14,925	$1,176	$13,749
Carpinteria Middle	Public	6-8	5351 Carpinteria Ave.	Carpinteria	93013	Santa Barbara County	Carpinteria Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 684-4544	437	26	16.8	72.3%	81 (18.5%)	4 (0.9%)	341 (78.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	41.2	1460^th of 2740 public middle schools	46.7%		46.5	1284^th of 2761 public middle schools	53.5%	176			0.0	14.3	5.7	6.1			0.0	28.6	20.0	15.3			8.6	25.0	8.6	13.3			0.0	14.3	2.9	5.1		25.6	25.6			32.3	46.3	43.5	40.8			25.4	36.4	36.6	32.8	$21,437	$1,887	$19,550
Kermit McKenzie Intermediate	Public	4-8	4710 West Main St.	Guadalupe	93434	Santa Barbara County	Guadalupe Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 343-1951	585	32	18.2	87.9%	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	571 (97.6%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								(n/a)	32.5	0.0	5.3			13.0	30.0	27.0	5.3			20.9	55.0	5.4	5.3			22.6	25.0	0.0	2.6			9.6	14.6		14.6	23.0	28.7	24.7			25.5	15.6	9.7	17.6			14.3	$34,150	$2,995	$31,155
Guadalupe Junior High	Public	7-8	351 Arroyo Seco Rd.	Guadalupe	93434	Santa Barbara County	Guadalupe Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(805) 343-2270	0			—															(n/a)				14.3	23.8	19.1				23.8	38.1	31.0				23.8	9.5	16.7				14.3	38.1	26.2		18.0	18.0				21.0	30.2	26.1				9.4	9.4	9.4
Lompoc Valley Middle	Public	7-8	234 South N St.	Lompoc	93438	Santa Barbara County	Lompoc Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 742-2600	744	41	18.2	82.0%	64 (8.6%)	4 (0.5%)	626 (84.1%)	21 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	28 (3.8%)	15.5	2414^th of 2740 public middle schools	11.9%		18.1	2308^th of 2761 public middle schools	16.4%	106				3.1	8.6	6.0				15.6	8.6	11.9				9.4	11.8	10.6				0.0	9.1	4.6		14.2	14.2				24.0	22.9	23.5				13.7	19.8	16.8	$17,439	$1,318	$16,121
Vandenberg Middle	Public	7-8	Mountain View Blvd.	Vandenberg Afb	93437	Santa Barbara County	Lompoc Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 742-2700	565	28	20.2	52.0%	162 (28.7%)	16 (2.8%)	326 (57.7%)	25 (4.4%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (5.7%)	33.5	1699^th of 2740 public middle schools	38.0%		33.9	1683^rd of 2761 public middle schools	39.0%	16																										21.0	21.0				41.4	38.2	39.6				25.9	28.7	27.4	$17,086	$721	$16,365
Lakeview Junior High	Public	7-8	3700 Orcutt Rd.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8600	463	20	23.5	72.4%	98 (21.2%)	3 (0.6%)	322 (69.5%)	13 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	24 (5.2%)	60.1	932^nd of 2740 public middle schools	66.0%		51.9	1136^th of 2761 public middle schools	58.9%	204																										39.5	39.5				57.1	47.6	52.1				39.9	38.9	39.4	$32,409	$11,431	$20,978
Orcutt Junior High	Public	7-8	608 Pinal St.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8700	464	21	22.4	55.0%	145 (31.3%)	8 (1.7%)	249 (53.7%)	13 (2.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.1%)	68.8	721^st of 2740 public middle schools	73.7%		52.2	1127^th of 2761 public middle schools	59.2%	406																										50.0	50.0				57.0	49.4	53.3				47.1	43.2	45.2	$34,106	$11,854	$22,252

SchoolDigger rankings lists for California:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.