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
631	Mendocino K-8	Public	K-8	44261 Little Lake Rd.	Mendocino	95460	Mendocino County	Mendocino Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 937-0515	241	17	14.2	68.5%	178 (73.9%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (18.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.1%)	$21,319			$1,219			$20,100	72.4	62.5	829	198		062448003659
632	Academy of Technology & Leadership at Saticoy	Public	K-8	760 Jazmin Ave.	Ventura	93004	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 672-2701	461	18	25.2	57.5%	144 (31.2%)	3 (0.7%)	285 (61.8%)	10 (2.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.5%)	$16,528			$2,724			$13,804	72.4	75.6	574	58		064098006765
633	Roberts Ferry Charter School Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	101 Roberts Ferry Rd.	Waterford	95386	Stanislaus County	Roberts Ferry Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-2331	169	8	21.1	36.7%	85 (50.3%)	2 (1.2%)	69 (40.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.7%)	$13,503			$512			$12,991	72.3	57.5	947	314		063321012712
634	Pleasant Grove Middle	Public	6-8	2540 Green Valley Rd.	Rescue	95672	El Dorado County	Rescue Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 672-4400	470	25	18.7	27.2%	350 (74.5%)	2 (0.4%)	87 (18.5%)	10 (2.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.0%)	$15,567			$1,179			$14,388	72.2	69.9	688	54		063231011168
635	Loomis Elementary	Public	K-8	3505 Taylor Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1824	438	21	21	21.2%	298 (68.0%)	3 (0.7%)	76 (17.4%)	20 (4.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (9.1%)	$12,988			$1,461			$11,527	72.2	86.4	358	277		062256002772
636	Cajon Park Elementary	Public	K-8	10300 Magnolia Ave.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 956-2400	830	35	23.7	48.8%	508 (61.2%)	6 (0.7%)	200 (24.1%)	22 (2.7%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	90 (10.8%)	$16,154			$803			$15,351	72.1	60.7	865	229		063588006137
637	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%)	$16,295			$1,202			$15,093	72.1	75.9	568	69		060141406020
638	East Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	3951 East Ave.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4711	581	26	22.4	25.8%	243 (41.8%)	14 (2.4%)	188 (32.4%)	74 (12.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (10.3%)	$16,199			$252			$15,947	72.1	68.3	716	78		062211002623
639	Butteville Elementary	Public	K-8	24512 Edgewood Rd.	Weed	96094	Siskiyou County	Butteville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 938-2255	162	9	17.4	43.2%	121 (74.7%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (19.1%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.9%)								72	86.2	363	276		060669000593
640	Redding School of the Arts	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	955 Inspiration Pl.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Redding School of the Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 247-6933	634	33	18.9	33.8%	386 (60.9%)	9 (1.4%)	83 (13.1%)	25 (3.9%)	13 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	116 (18.3%)	$8,918			$555			$8,363	71.9	79.3	490	150		060238514024

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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