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
1321	Santa Fe Computer Science Magnet	Public	6-8	148 West Duarte Rd.	Monrovia	91016	Los Angeles County	Monrovia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 471-2700	424	18	23.3	80.2%	22 (5.2%)	16 (3.8%)	310 (73.1%)	61 (14.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.3%)	$19,326			$1,682			$17,644	45.3	50.9	1145	176		062532003782
1322	Valley Life Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3737 West Walnut Ave.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Valley Life Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 625-8527	688	43	16.1	39.0%	290 (42.2%)	8 (1.2%)	330 (48.0%)	10 (1.5%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (6.7%)	$15,959			$349			$15,610	45.3	46.9	1250	72		060150812862
1323	Jimenez Roberto and Dr. Francisco Elementary	Public	K-8	1970 South Biscayne St.	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-4340	1,177	47	25	80.7%	44 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1,085 (92.2%)	32 (2.7%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (1.1%)	$19,468			$2,448			$17,020	45.2	46.6	1263	60		060558013869
1324	Olive Peirce Middle	Public	7-8	1521 Hanson Ln.	Ramona	92065	San Diego County	Ramona City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 787-2400	680	36	18.6	64.4%	297 (43.7%)	3 (0.4%)	328 (48.2%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (6.6%)	$11,328			$2,083			$9,245	45.1	43.1	1367	43		063171008944
1325	A. M. Thomas Middle	Public	6-8	20979 Lobos Ct.	Lost Hills	93249	Kern County	Lost Hills Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 797-2626	90	3	29.5	96.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	88 (97.8%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$36,165			$4,693			$31,472	45.1	44.9	1315	10		062295007772
1326	KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1430 Scott St. Third Fl.	San Francisco	94115	San Francisco County	KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 440-4306	267	14	18.9	92.9%	13 (4.9%)	68 (25.5%)	166 (62.2%)	11 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.4%)	$42,686			$3,172			$39,514	45.1	43.3	1362	36		060162611255
1327	Anacapa Middle	Public	6-8	100 South Mills Rd.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-7900	592	25	23.7	68.1%	103 (17.4%)	7 (1.2%)	434 (73.3%)	23 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.1%)	$17,620			$2,135			$15,485	45	49.6	1182	145		064098006743
1328	High Technical Middle Media Arts	Public, Charter	6-8	2230 Truxtun Rd. 2nd Fl.	San Diego	92106	San Diego County	High Technical Middle Media Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 398-8640	331	15	22	46.8%	81 (24.5%)	32 (9.7%)	174 (52.6%)	21 (6.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (6.3%)	$13,123			$361			$12,762	45	45.5	1292	36		060187811155
1329	Stephen R. Fitz Intermediate	Public	7-8	4600 West McFadden Ave.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6351	534	24	22	88.4%	10 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	451 (84.5%)	59 (11.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.2%)	$19,861			$3,027			$16,834	45	49.4	1188	141		061488001843
1330	Central Online Home	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	2280 N. Valentine Ave.	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 276-3140	137	7	19.7	70.8%	24 (17.5%)	5 (3.6%)	81 (59.1%)	18 (13.1%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.8%)								44.9	25.6	2013	683		060797014455

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.