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
2042	Vista Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	700 East Bobier Ave.	Vista	92084	San Diego County	Vista Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	251	11	23.7	70.1%	40 (15.9%)	6 (2.4%)	186 (74.1%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.0%)								24.3	21.8	2179	137		060146314373
2043	Biggs Elementary	Public	K-8	300 B St.	Biggs	95917	Butte County	Biggs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 868-5870	320	17	18.9	68.8%	164 (51.3%)	3 (0.9%)	142 (44.4%)	7 (2.2%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	$23,415			$4,385			$19,030	24.2	18	2349	306		060504000485
2044	Pomolita Middle	Public	6-8	740 North Spring St.	Ukiah	95482	Mendocino County	Ukiah Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 472-5350	826	43	19.1	82.8%	189 (22.9%)	5 (0.6%)	548 (66.3%)	12 (1.5%)	34 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (4.2%)	$19,507			$2,596			$16,911	24.2	26.3	1983	61		064030006660
2045	ISANA Nascent Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3417 West Jefferson Blvd.	Los Angeles	90018	Los Angeles County	ISANA Nascent Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 732-6613	488	24	20.2	94.9%	1 (0.2%)	119 (24.4%)	354 (72.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.5%)	$21,769			$4,208			$17,561	24.1	26.3	1984	61		060159910869
2046	Lichen K-8	Public	K-8	8319 Lichen Dr.	Citrus Heights	95621	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5237	498	24	20.3	63.9%	175 (35.1%)	25 (5.0%)	222 (44.6%)	16 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.8%)	45 (9.0%)	$18,262			$3,453			$14,809	24.1	26.9	1957	89		063462005793
2047	O'Hara Park Middle	Public	6-8	1100 O'Hara Ave.	Oakley	94561	Contra Costa County	Oakley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 625-5060	856	38	22.7	41.8%	254 (29.7%)	75 (8.8%)	416 (48.6%)	82 (9.6%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.7%)	21 (2.5%)	$13,922			$1,681			$12,241	24.1	32	1729	318		062808009966
2048	Glacier Point Middle	Public	7-8	4055 North Bryan Ave.	Fresno	93723	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-3105	947	44	21.6	86.9%	71 (7.5%)	86 (9.1%)	597 (63.0%)	173 (18.3%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.5%)								24.1	27.1	1945	103		060797012888
2049	Barstow STEM Academy	Public	5-8	310 Mountain View	Barstow	92311	San Bernardino County	Barstow Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 255-6150	454	15	30.2	60.1%	88 (19.4%)	44 (9.7%)	286 (63.0%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.8%)	24 (5.3%)	$13,909			$1,839			$12,070	24.1	33.9	1672	377		060402013771
2050	John Knight Middle	Public	6-8	455 East A St.	Dixon	95620	Solano County	Dixon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 693-6350	634	26	24.3	69.4%	149 (23.5%)	18 (2.8%)	403 (63.6%)	13 (2.1%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	47 (7.4%)	$12,730			$1,269			$11,461	24.1	31.6	1746	304		061128001250
2051	James Monroe Middle	Public	6-8	340 West Church St.	Ridgecrest	93555	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1830	490	25	19.4	58.4%	228 (46.5%)	41 (8.4%)	168 (34.3%)	15 (3.1%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.1%)	$16,253			$1,030			$15,223	24	28.6	1876	175		063680006235

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.