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
541	William Northrup Elementary	Public	K-8	409 South Atlantic Blvd.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-6620	814	37	22	46.7%	10 (1.2%)	4 (0.5%)	264 (32.4%)	487 (59.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (5.9%)	$14,882			$1,457			$13,425	76.9	67.1	740	199		060015310945
542	Nile Garden Elementary	Public	K-8	5700 East Nile Rd.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7370	1,221	44	27.7	55.4%	149 (12.2%)	35 (2.9%)	337 (27.6%)	650 (53.2%)	3 (0.2%)	7 (0.6%)	40 (3.3%)	$13,384			$1,783			$11,601	76.9	71.3	666	124		062361003585
543	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%)	$16,074			$2,506			$13,568	76.9	67.4	731	188		063560006065
544	Hickman Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	13306 Fourth St.	Hickman	95323	Stanislaus County	Hickman Community Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1816	141	7	20.6	36.2%	80 (56.7%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (34.8%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.1%)	$12,674			$301			$12,373	76.8	69.9	690	146		061716008411
545	Las Colinas Middle	Public	6-8	5750 Fieldcrest Dr.	Camarillo	93012	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5320	819	35	23.5	30.0%	311 (38.0%)	13 (1.6%)	346 (42.2%)	91 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.6%)	53 (6.5%)	$15,105			$1,801			$13,304	76.8	74.5	599	54		063099011372
546	Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	1372 East Las Tunas Dr.	San Gabriel	91776	Los Angeles County	San Gabriel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 287-5260	1,013	47	21.6	70.0%	34 (3.4%)	7 (0.7%)	399 (39.4%)	526 (51.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	43 (4.2%)	$19,478			$2,227			$17,251	76.7	81.6	449	97		063442500557
547	Heritage Intermediate	Public	6-8	13766 South Heritage Cir.	Fontana	92336	San Bernardino County	Etiwanda Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-1345	1,175	51	23.2	32.9%	138 (11.7%)	145 (12.3%)	615 (52.3%)	171 (14.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	103 (8.8%)	$12,412			$667			$11,745	76.7	75.8	570	23		061296010610
548	Mary Collins Charter School at Cherry Valley	Public, Charter	K-8	1001 Cherry St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4740	494	19	26.2	26.5%	359 (72.7%)	1 (0.2%)	59 (11.9%)	6 (1.2%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (12.3%)	$16,065			$706			$15,359	76.6	78	526	22		063025004716
549	Community Montessori	Public, Charter	K-8	1441 Montiel Rd. Ste. 143	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Community Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 743-7880	795	35	22.5	17.6%	401 (50.4%)	12 (1.5%)	210 (26.4%)	96 (12.1%)	4 (0.5%)	7 (0.9%)	65 (8.2%)								76.6	76.5	559	10		060146413054
550	Marston Middle	Public	6-8	3799 Clairemont Dr.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 810-7500	702	32	21.7	47.6%	343 (48.9%)	14 (2.0%)	239 (34.0%)	29 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (10.8%)	$19,283			$2,638			$16,645	76.6	77.3	542	8		063432005513

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.