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
681	Thomas Starr King Middle School Film and Media Magnet	Public	6-8	4201 Fountain Ave.	Los Angeles	90029	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 644-6700	1,547	81	19.2	74.5%	273 (17.6%)	41 (2.7%)	934 (60.4%)	223 (14.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (4.9%)	$19,529			$3,591			$15,938	69.9	75	591	90		062271003117
682	ISANA Palmati Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	6501 Laurel Canyon Blvd.	North Hollywood	91606	Los Angeles County	ISANA Palmati Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 753-2712	360	15	23.9	89.7%	11 (3.1%)	3 (0.8%)	335 (93.1%)	8 (2.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$20,717			$3,898			$16,819	69.8	73.8	616	66		060154112614
683	Shasta View Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	675 Shasta View Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Shasta View Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 233-3861	493	25	19.8	46.0%	328 (66.5%)	3 (0.6%)	68 (13.8%)	12 (2.4%)	15 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (13.6%)	$10,501			$356			$10,145	69.7	76.9	550	133		060250614418
684	Learning Post Academy (Alternative)	Public, Virtual	7-12	24825 North Newhall Ave.	Santa Clarita	91321	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 255-8338	322	17	18.8	24.2%	149 (46.3%)	7 (2.2%)	123 (38.2%)	21 (6.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (6.2%)	$15,647			$500			$15,147	69.7	73	634	50		064251007369
685	Heartwood Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	170 Liberty School Rd.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Heartwood Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(415) 488-9572	739	23	32.6	36.0%	456 (61.7%)	7 (0.9%)	128 (17.3%)	19 (2.6%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	115 (15.6%)	$12,966			$661			$12,305	69.6	70.8	673	12		060251214416
686	Bernal Intermediate	Public	7-8	6610 San Ignacio Ave.	San Jose	95119	Santa Clara County	Oak Grove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 578-5731	675	29	22.9	41.9%	104 (15.4%)	18 (2.7%)	309 (45.8%)	192 (28.4%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	47 (7.0%)	$17,416			$1,041			$16,375	69.5	73	636	50		062781004205
687	Luther Burbank Middle	Public	6-8	3700 West Jeffries Ave.	Burbank	91505	Los Angeles County	Burbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 729-3700	1,030	43	23.8	29.9%	390 (37.9%)	21 (2.0%)	441 (42.8%)	69 (6.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	104 (10.1%)	$116,130			$7,378			$108,752	69.5	65.8	774	87		060645000571
688	Buena Vista Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Tara Dr.	Salinas	93908	Monterey County	Spreckels Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 455-8936	321	18	17.5	17.4%	121 (37.7%)	0 (0.0%)	163 (50.8%)	16 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.5%)	$12,219			$1,010			$11,209	69.4	59.9	889	201		063771007565
689	Thirty-Second Street USC Performing Arts	Public, Alternative	K-12	822 West 32nd St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 748-0126	842	44	18.9	89.1%	45 (5.3%)	55 (6.5%)	691 (82.1%)	25 (3.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	24 (2.9%)	$20,088			$3,747			$16,341	69.3	60	884	195		062271003395
690	Antioch Charter Academy II	Public, Charter	K-8	1201 West Tenth St.	Antioch	94509	Contra Costa County	Antioch Charter Academy II District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 755-1252	204	10	21.4	48.5%	49 (24.0%)	21 (10.3%)	95 (46.6%)	15 (7.4%)	3 (1.5%)	4 (2.0%)	17 (8.3%)	$16,608			$327			$16,281	69.2	61.1	862	172		060182211984

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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