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
1432	Westside Global Awareness Magnet	Public	K-8	104 Anchorage St.	Marina Del Rey	90292	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 821-2039	241	13	18.5	87.1%	11 (4.6%)	77 (32.0%)	135 (56.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.1%)	$35,336			$5,624			$29,712	42	43.6	1351	81		062271002822
1433	Columbus Tustin Middle	Public	6-8	17952 Beneta Way	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7352	583	25	23.6	85.6%	34 (5.8%)	14 (2.4%)	472 (81.0%)	44 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	16 (2.7%)	$16,917			$1,892			$15,025	41.9	56.2	985	448		064015006635
1434	Corvallis Middle	Public	6-8	11032 East Leffingwell Rd.	Norwalk	90650	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-4125	663	27	24.3	76.0%	9 (1.4%)	27 (4.1%)	582 (87.8%)	29 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	12 (1.8%)	$18,125			$1,078			$17,047	41.9	34	1669	235		062769002145
1435	Johnstonville Elementary	Public	K-8	704-795 Bangham Ln.	Susanville	96130	Lassen County	Johnstonville Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 257-2471	211	10	21.1	54.5%	163 (77.3%)	2 (0.9%)	35 (16.6%)	3 (1.4%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.3%)	$3,594			$878			$2,716	41.9	26.2	1988	553		061905002304
1436	Cecil Avenue Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1430 Cecil Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-5030	585	30	19.5	90.4%	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	526 (89.9%)	48 (8.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$23,978			$2,982			$20,996	41.9	34.8	1638	202		061089001208
1437	Norton Science and Language Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	230 S Waterman Ave	San Bernardino	92408	San Bernardino County	Norton Science and Language Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 386-2300	1,249	60	20.9	76.7%	32 (2.6%)	39 (3.1%)	1,153 (92.3%)	9 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (1.2%)	$18,223			$2,002			$16,221	41.9	19.6	2277	840		060155812150
1438	Redwood Middle	Public	6-8	3600 Oxford St.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 253-3415	868	37	23.1	64.1%	322 (37.1%)	8 (0.9%)	485 (55.9%)	17 (2.0%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.3%)	25 (2.9%)	$15,788			$1,398			$14,390	41.8	37.1	1561	123		062664004028
1439	Waukena Joint Union Elementary	Public	K-8	19113 Road 28	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Waukena Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-3328	220	10	22	84.1%	17 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	203 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,928			$1,128			$18,800	41.8	39.3	1490	51		064182006870
1440	Sequoia Middle	Public	4-8	1805 Sequoia St.	Redding	96001	Shasta County	Redding Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 225-0020	461	21	21.4	74.8%	254 (55.1%)	15 (3.3%)	100 (21.7%)	21 (4.6%)	29 (6.3%)	2 (0.4%)	38 (8.2%)	$21,277			$927			$20,350	41.8	41.7	1404	36		063204004929
1441	C. E. Utt Middle	Public	6-8	13601 Browning Ave.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7573	554	25	22.4	82.1%	40 (7.2%)	8 (1.4%)	437 (78.9%)	51 (9.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	15 (2.7%)	$17,604			$1,946			$15,658	41.8	47.8	1221	220		064015003488

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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:

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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