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
881	Bayside Academy	Public	K-8	2025 Kehoe Ave.	San Mateo	94403	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7660	840	43	19.3	43.2%	71 (8.5%)	16 (1.9%)	452 (53.8%)	184 (21.9%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (5.5%)	70 (8.3%)	$20,286			$1,929			$18,357	61	71.5	663	218		063492014143
882	Gorman Learning Center San Bernardino/Santa Clarita	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1826 Orange Tree Ln.	Redlands	92374	San Bernardino County	Gorman Learning Center San Bernardino/Santa Clarita District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-6312	1,559	68	23	31.3%	693 (44.5%)	51 (3.3%)	599 (38.4%)	95 (6.1%)	7 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	111 (7.1%)	$12,093			$996			$11,097	61	58.6	917	35		060182314328
883	Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 251-5600	416	19	21.9	80.8%	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	330 (79.3%)	79 (19.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$37,274			$2,888			$34,386	61	79.1	500	383		060224013778
884	Yosemite Valley Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3610 East Ashlan Ave	Fresno	93726	Fresno County	Yosemite Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 258-0800	3,065	104	29.4	47.4%	1,397 (45.6%)	80 (2.6%)	1,178 (38.4%)	92 (3.0%)	11 (0.4%)	8 (0.3%)	291 (9.5%)	$14,732			$818			$13,914	60.9	56.4	982	98		060246014019
885	Judkins Middle	Public	7-8	680 Wadsworth St.	Pismo Beach	93449	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3600	431	25	17.5	60.3%	154 (35.7%)	0 (0.0%)	235 (54.5%)	10 (2.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.0%)	$17,070			$1,506			$15,564	60.9	61.8	842	43		062308003522
886	Mueller Charter (Robert L.)	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	715 I St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Mueller Charter (Robert L.) District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 422-6192	1,542	67	22.8	77.8%	55 (3.6%)	17 (1.1%)	1,424 (92.3%)	17 (1.1%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (1.6%)	$16,338			$1,832			$14,506	60.8	57.6	944	58		060157800869
887	Joe Serna Junior Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4620 East Acampo Rd.	Acampo	95220	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7809	369	19	19.3	73.2%	54 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	305 (82.7%)	5 (1.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	$20,039			$2,094			$17,945	60.7	53.6	1055	168		062223008617
888	Shoreline Middle	Public	6-8	855 17th Ave.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Live Oak Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 475-6565	478	26	18.3	64.9%	160 (33.5%)	7 (1.5%)	286 (59.8%)	13 (2.7%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	5 (1.0%)	$21,007			$1,598			$19,409	60.7	52.1	1102	214		062199007434
889	Woodland Park Middle	Public	6-8	1270 Rock Springs Rd.	San Marcos	92069	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2455	1,184	52	22.8	42.3%	358 (30.2%)	12 (1.0%)	618 (52.2%)	79 (6.7%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.4%)	110 (9.3%)	$16,436			$1,133			$15,303	60.6	62.5	831	58		063488005895
890	Ridgepoint Tk-8	Public	K-8	4680 Monument Dr.	Sacramento	95842	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1950	650	27	23.9	86.9%	182 (28.0%)	77 (11.8%)	233 (35.8%)	73 (11.2%)	6 (0.9%)	9 (1.4%)	70 (10.8%)	$16,377			$2,520			$13,857	60.6	58.1	932	42		060133208952

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.