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 9, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2760)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
1882	Los Tules Middle	Public	6-8	801 West Gail Ave.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 687-3156	569	25	22.5	84.9%	31 (5.4%)	15 (2.6%)	501 (88.0%)	16 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$17,704			$2,861			$14,843	28.3	27.6	1916	34		063987011371
1883	CIS Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	300 Madre St.	Pasadena	91107	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 396-5800	234	13	17.6	70.9%	41 (17.5%)	28 (12.0%)	153 (65.4%)	4 (1.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	$28,613			$6,944			$21,669	28.3	40.6	1440	443		062994012340
1884	Lakeside Middle	Public	7-8	27720 Walnut St.	Perris	92571	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 443-2440	1,076	48	22.2	86.3%	33 (3.1%)	94 (8.7%)	886 (82.3%)	18 (1.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (3.9%)	$18,804			$830			$17,974	28.3	24.5	2055	171		069113511243
1885	Haven Drive Middle	Public	7-8	341 Haven Dr.	Arvin	93203	Kern County	Arvin Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 854-6540	612	36	17.1	94.4%	11 (1.8%)	4 (0.7%)	595 (97.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$22,418			$4,551			$17,867	28.3	34.3	1656	229		060327000245
1886	Pixley Middle	Public	6-8	1520 East Ct. St.	Pixley	93256	Tulare County	Pixley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 757-3018	297	17	17.1	96.3%	4 (1.3%)	4 (1.3%)	286 (96.3%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,329			$1,684			$20,645	28.3	31	1770	116		063063012170
1887	Urban Montessori Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4551 Steele St.	Oakland	94619	Alameda County	Urban Montessori Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 842-1181	343	4	79.7	37.3%	91 (26.5%)	65 (19.0%)	109 (31.8%)	20 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	45 (13.1%)	$10,936			$193			$10,743	28.3	37.2	1557	330		060181613008
1888	Mission Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	43141 Business Center Pkwy Ste	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Mission Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(844) 788-3965	694	34	20.2	78.2%	142 (20.5%)	51 (7.3%)	420 (60.5%)	17 (2.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	48 (6.9%)								28.2	13.1	2543	655		060174614230
1889	Cahuilla Desert Academy Junior High	Public	7-8	82-489 Avenue 52	Coachella	92236	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 398-0097	668	33	20.1	83.8%	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	658 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	$29,527			$1,299			$28,228	28.2	25.1	2031	142		060907005008
1890	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	9452 Hemlock Ave.	Fontana	92335	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5400	791	37	21.2	93.8%	15 (1.9%)	8 (1.0%)	753 (95.2%)	12 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$19,232			$2,417			$16,815	28.2	29.5	1832	58		061392001602
1891	Elsinore Middle	Public	6-8	1203 West Graham Ave.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 674-2118	947	35	26.7	81.0%	111 (11.7%)	32 (3.4%)	730 (77.1%)	35 (3.7%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	34 (3.6%)	$14,608			$1,694			$12,914	28.2	27.2	1937	46		060002709493

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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 9, 2025, 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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