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
2022	ISANA Himalia Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	4607 South Central Ave.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	ISANA Himalia Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 231-7005	655	29	22.8	96.5%	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	645 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	$18,234			$3,559			$14,675	24.7	29.5	1833	189		060150712162
2023	Parkway Heights Middle	Public	6-8	650 Sunset Ave.	South San Francisco	94080	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8788	573	36	15.7	58.3%	12 (2.1%)	8 (1.4%)	458 (79.9%)	70 (12.2%)	6 (1.0%)	6 (1.0%)	13 (2.3%)	$21,531			$2,313			$19,218	24.7	28.2	1891	132		063753006348
2024	Thompson Peak Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	995 Paiute Ln.	Susanville	96130	Lassen County	Thompson Peak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 257-7300	151	10	15.4	62.9%	89 (58.9%)	1 (0.7%)	39 (25.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.3%)	1 (0.7%)	13 (8.6%)	$19,145			$1,755			$17,390	24.7	26.5	1976	48		060184014096
2025	Henry T. Gage Middle	Public	6-8	2880 East Gage Ave.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 826-1500	1,139	67	16.9	95.2%	20 (1.8%)	3 (0.3%)	1,110 (97.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	$23,264			$4,299			$18,965	24.7	32	1730	295		062271003030
2026	Mark Twain Elementary	Public	K-8	646 Stanislaus Ave.	Angels Camp	95222	Calaveras County	Mark Twain Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 736-6533	507	24	21.1	68.2%	359 (70.8%)	4 (0.8%)	100 (19.7%)	3 (0.6%)	15 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.1%)	$13,068			$797			$12,271	24.6	17.5	2366	340		062397003609
2027	Will C. Wood Middle	Public	7-8	6201 Lemon Hill Ave.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5380	680	34	20.2	84.3%	29 (4.3%)	41 (6.0%)	332 (48.8%)	224 (32.9%)	2 (0.3%)	27 (4.0%)	25 (3.7%)	$23,557			$4,435			$19,122	24.6	31	1771	256		063384005289
2028	Gavilan View Middle	Public	6-8	18250 Van Buren Ave.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Santa Rita Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 443-7212	556	30	18.5	87.6%	19 (3.4%)	2 (0.4%)	508 (91.4%)	16 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.6%)	$19,420			$1,914			$17,506	24.6	18.1	2337	309		063579007870
2029	Darnall Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6020 Hughes St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	Darnall Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 582-1822	442	21	21.5	79.6%	5 (1.1%)	38 (8.6%)	357 (80.8%)	25 (5.7%)	3 (0.7%)	2 (0.5%)	12 (2.7%)	$19,522			$2,615			$16,907	24.6	23	2128	99		060236401220
2030	Sunset	Public	5-8	8301 Sunset Blvd.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Vineland Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 845-1320	302	16	19.4	100.0%	5 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	297 (98.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,593			$6,568			$15,025	24.5	24.4	2062	32		064113006783
2031	Sierra Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1931 North Fine Ave.	Fresno	93727	Fresno County	Sierra Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 490-4290	354	25	14.1	73.2%	64 (18.1%)	9 (2.5%)	258 (72.9%)	7 (2.0%)	8 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)	$17,629			$1,984			$15,645	24.5	27.6	1919	112		060160911846

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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

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