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
1251	Orchard Park	Public	K-8	5150 Live Oak Ave.	Oakley	94561	Contra Costa County	Antioch Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 779-7445	751	30	24.6	72.6%	130 (17.3%)	120 (16.0%)	372 (49.5%)	64 (8.5%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (0.9%)	56 (7.5%)	$16,702			$2,185			$14,517	47.5	49.2	1193	58		060285011904
1252	Lawrence E. Jones Middle	Public	6-8	5154 Snyder Ln.	Rohnert Park	94928	Sonoma County	Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 588-5600	775	37	21	38.3%	335 (43.2%)	14 (1.8%)	300 (38.7%)	44 (5.7%)	3 (0.4%)	7 (0.9%)	72 (9.3%)	$17,012			$642			$16,370	47.4	45.2	1307	55		060994005461
1253	Larry G. Meeks Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	2775 Millcreek Dr.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 567-5608	169	11	15.2	75.7%	21 (12.4%)	26 (15.4%)	48 (28.4%)	38 (22.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	33 (19.5%)	$18,147			$1,113			$17,034	47.4	24.5	2057	804		060003614537
1254	Advanced Learning Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	408 East Santa Clara Ave.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 564-2100	363	31	11.6	89.8%	9 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	349 (96.1%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,323			$1,726			$31,597	47.3	27.8	1908	654		063531014192
1255	Janesville Elementary	Public	K-8	464-555 Main St.	Janesville	96114	Lassen County	Janesville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 253-3551	313	17	18.3	50.5%	237 (75.7%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (17.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	15 (4.8%)								47.3	47	1246	9		061878002275
1256	Winton Middle	Public	6-8	6300 North Cypress Ave.	Winton	95388	Merced County	Winton	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6189	579	25	22.7	92.1%	39 (6.7%)	4 (0.7%)	499 (86.2%)	33 (5.7%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$16,077			$1,255			$14,822	47.3	39.2	1492	236		064296010150
1257	California Virtual Academy at Kings	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy at Kings District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	764	28	27.2	74.1%	174 (22.8%)	20 (2.6%)	487 (63.7%)	36 (4.7%)	6 (0.8%)	7 (0.9%)	34 (4.5%)	$10,622			$407			$10,215	47.3	36	1591	334		060188411996
1258	Laurel Tree Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4555 Valley West Blvd.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Laurel Tree Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-5626	197	8	25.9	54.3%	145 (73.6%)	2 (1.0%)	16 (8.1%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (14.7%)	$18,185			$2,261			$15,924	47.2	60.6	874	384		060158112960
1259	Dehesa Elementary	Public	K-8	4612 Dehesa Rd.	El Cajon	92019	San Diego County	Dehesa Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 444-2161	399	28	14.4	36.8%	124 (31.1%)	8 (2.0%)	168 (42.1%)	9 (2.3%)	7 (1.8%)	3 (0.8%)	79 (19.8%)	$19,712			$628			$19,084	47.2	39.6	1477	218		061071001188
1260	Sonoma Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	17202 Sonoma Hwy.	Sonoma	95476	Sonoma County	Sonoma Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 935-4232	226	10	23.7	47.8%	109 (48.2%)	2 (0.9%)	102 (45.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.9%)	$12,781			$334			$12,447	47.1	66.3	759	501		060226004112

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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