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Best Middle Schools in Santa Cruz 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

5,878

Students

Districts

Top rankedScotts Valley Middle356^th of 2,740 California middle schools

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Biggest riser

Cesar E. Chavez Middle up 143 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Branciforte Middle 17.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

0★

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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)				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	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	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 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
Scotts Valley Middle	Public	6-8	8 Bean Creek Rd.	Scotts Valley	95066	Santa Cruz County	Scotts Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 438-0610	463	24	19.6	11.2%	303 (65.4%)	1 (0.2%)	85 (18.4%)	31 (6.7%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.4%)	85.4	356^th of 2740 public middle schools	87.0%		85.7	356^th of 2761 public middle schools	87.1%		57.7	57.7	60.1	71.9	68.6	66.6	50.0	67.7	56.7	58.0	$19,982	$19,438	$544
Shoreline Middle	Public	6-8	855 17th Ave.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Live Oak Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 475-6565	478	26	18.3	64.9%	160 (33.5%)	7 (1.5%)	286 (59.8%)	13 (2.7%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	5 (1.0%)	52.6	1117^th of 2740 public middle schools	59.2%		60.7	888^th of 2761 public middle schools	67.8%	229	43.2	43.2	43.5	50.6	51.0	48.5	26.1	40.0	30.6	32.5
Aptos Junior High	Public	7-8	1001 Huntington Dr.	Aptos	95003	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-7834	587	27	22.0	51.1%	254 (43.3%)	3 (0.5%)	295 (50.3%)	10 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.1%)	47	1275^th of 2740 public middle schools	53.5%		50	1181^st of 2761 public middle schools	57.2%	94	36.8	36.8		45.0	39.9	42.4		36.6	31.2	33.8	$22,668	$20,784	$1,884
E. A. Hall Middle	Public	6-8	201 Brewington Ave.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6270	491	23	21.8	97.4%	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	478 (97.4%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6	2695^th of 2740 public middle schools	1.6%		5.9	2719^th of 2761 public middle schools	1.5%	24	6.9	6.9	9.7	9.0	17.3	12.1	0.6	9.1	3.9	4.2	$26,764	$24,252	$2,512
Pajaro Middle	Public	6-8	250 Salinas Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6238	398	18	21.6	96.5%	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	392 (98.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	9.5	2615^th of 2740 public middle schools	4.6%		10.4	2601^st of 2761 public middle schools	5.8%	14	9.9	9.9	14.4	26.5	25.4	21.9	5.3	5.8	5.7	5.6	$34,746	$31,508	$3,238
Rolling Hills Middle	Public	6-8	130 Herman Ave.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6341	588	28	21.1	94.6%	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	568 (96.6%)	11 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	10.1	2593^rd of 2740 public middle schools	5.4%		10	2612^th of 2761 public middle schools	5.4%	19	12.1	12.1	12.5	12.4	26.9	17.3	6.9	10.2	12.2	9.8	$23,339	$20,522	$2,817
Lakeview Middle	Public	6-8	2350 East Lake Ave.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6455	425	19	22.3	92.5%	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	406 (95.5%)	8 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	11.1	2562^nd of 2740 public middle schools	6.5%		8.3	2660^th of 2761 public middle schools	3.7%	98	12.1	12.1	14.7	19.1	25.0	19.6	8.5	11.5	13.6	11.3	$33,575	$31,182	$2,393
Cesar E. Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	440 Arthur Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 761-7699	548	27	20.3	91.1%	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	541 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12.9	2506^th of 2740 public middle schools	8.5%		8.9	2649^th of 2761 public middle schools	4.1%	143	15.4	15.4	21.2	17.4	20.5	19.6	15.4	8.6	17.2	13.7	$27,312	$24,258	$3,054
San Lorenzo Valley Middle	Public	6-8	7179 Hacienda Way	Felton	95018	Santa Cruz County	San Lorenzo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 335-4452	396	20	20.0	24.0%	300 (75.8%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (16.2%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	29 (7.3%)	61.5	901^st of 2740 public middle schools	67.1%		56.1	997^th of 2761 public middle schools	63.9%	96	39.6	39.6	48.6	45.4	52.4	49.1	38.4	43.5	50.3	44.3	$21,640	$21,268	$372
Branciforte Middle	Public	6-8	315 Poplar St.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-3883	409	23	17.8	38.1%	175 (42.8%)	7 (1.7%)	192 (46.9%)	8 (2.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.9%)	74.7	580^th of 2740 public middle schools	78.8%		68.8	698^th of 2761 public middle schools	74.7%	118	47.7	47.7	60.1	67.9	55.7	61.1	50.0	49.6	41.3	46.9	$29,278	$27,576	$1,702
Mission Hill Middle	Public	6-8	425 King St.	Santa Cruz	95060	Santa Cruz County	Santa Cruz City High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-3860	510	28	18.2	32.0%	268 (52.5%)	5 (1.0%)	166 (32.5%)	14 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	54 (10.6%)	74.4	584^th of 2740 public middle schools	78.7%		76.9	543^rd of 2761 public middle schools	80.3%	41	59.3	59.3	54.4	57.7	61.4	57.9	39.4	51.0	49.1	46.5	$23,824	$22,838	$986
New Brighton Middle	Public	6-8	250 Washburn Ave.	Capitola	95010	Santa Cruz County	Soquel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 464-5660	585	28	20.9	30.3%	329 (56.2%)	4 (0.7%)	198 (33.8%)	10 (1.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	36 (6.2%)	65	813^th of 2740 public middle schools	70.3%		69.9	680^th of 2761 public middle schools	75.4%	133	52.5	52.5	56.5	56.1	58.2	57.0	26.6	37.4	43.4	36.2	$16,622	$16,288	$334

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.