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
391	Alameda Community Learning Center	Public, Charter	6-12	1900 Third St.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Community Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 995-4300	362	18	20.6	40.6%	70 (19.3%)	56 (15.5%)	73 (20.2%)	96 (26.5%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.6%)	60 (16.6%)	$16,383			$946			$15,437	83.8	75.6	577	186		060166408673
392	Tierra Pacifica Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	986 Bostwick Ln.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Live Oak Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 462-9404	166	9	17.5	28.9%	105 (63.3%)	3 (1.8%)	40 (24.1%)	4 (2.4%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.2%)	$13,628			$00			$13,628	83.8	62.4	832	440		062199011260
393	Los Primeros School of Sciences & Arts	Public	K-8	1555 Kendall Ave.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5330	614	24	25.4	18.2%	282 (45.9%)	7 (1.1%)	199 (32.4%)	67 (10.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	58 (9.4%)	$13,491			$1,096			$12,395	83.7	76.3	563	170		063099004803
394	San Onofre Elementary	Public	K-8	200 Pate Rd.	San Clemente	92672	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4360	489	24	20.3	63.4%	230 (47.0%)	21 (4.3%)	174 (35.6%)	12 (2.5%)	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	46 (9.4%)	$22,262			$1,809			$20,453	83.7	89.7	284	110		061350001544
395	KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory	Public, Charter	5-8	2810 Whittier Blvd.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 264-7737	529	20	26.5	76.6%	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	518 (97.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$21,746			$3,189			$18,557	83.7	84.1	394	1		060202011324
396	Da Vinci Connect	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12501 Isis Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Da Vinci Connect District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 725-5800	923	24	39	43.4%	156 (16.9%)	198 (21.5%)	347 (37.6%)	59 (6.4%)	3 (0.3%)	6 (0.7%)	149 (16.1%)	$13,635			$432			$13,203	83.6	81.5	450	54		060229313702
397	Home INstead INnovation Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	42240 Camino Romo	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 294-6150	254	14	17.7	45.7%	75 (29.5%)	13 (5.1%)	101 (39.8%)	21 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	40 (15.7%)	$18,848			$1,345			$17,503	83.5	80.6	468	71		060002814529
398	Rooftop Elementary	Public	K-8	443 Burnett Ave.	San Francisco	94131	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 695-5692	575	21	27.2	30.6%	179 (31.1%)	64 (11.1%)	142 (24.7%)	50 (8.7%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	136 (23.7%)	$20,984			$1,423			$19,561	83.5	79.6	484	86		063441005661
399	Alice C. Stelle Middle	Public	6-8	22450 Mulholland Hwy.	Calabasas	91302	Los Angeles County	Las Virgenes Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 224-4107	760	31	24.5	22.8%	538 (70.8%)	15 (2.0%)	87 (11.4%)	29 (3.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (11.8%)	$18,808			$542			$18,266	83.5	82.4	430	31		062100011298
400	Rancho del Rey Middle	Public	7-8	1174 East J St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 397-2500	1,705	73	23.4	27.8%	140 (8.2%)	125 (7.3%)	843 (49.4%)	457 (26.8%)	3 (0.2%)	10 (0.6%)	127 (7.4%)								83.4	78	528	128		063864007348

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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 Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial 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 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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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