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
21	Ralston Intermediate	Public	6-8	2675 Ralston Ave.	Belmont	94002	San Mateo County	Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 637-4880	1,082	54	20	6.2%	348 (32.2%)	5 (0.5%)	120 (11.1%)	425 (39.3%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	179 (16.5%)	$15,431			$492			$14,939	98.9	99	19	2		060453000419
22	Ardis G. Egan Junior High	Public	7-8	100 West Portola Ave.	Los Altos	94022	Santa Clara County	Los Altos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 917-2200	517	23	22.5	10.1%	197 (38.1%)	4 (0.8%)	65 (12.6%)	195 (37.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (10.8%)	$23,344			$386			$22,958	98.7	98.5	30	8		062265002786
23	William Hopkins Middle	Public	6-8	600 Driscoll Rd.	Fremont	94539	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 656-3500	1,424	58	24.3	18.0%	53 (3.7%)	10 (0.7%)	127 (8.9%)	1,185 (83.2%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	44 (3.1%)	$14,600			$544			$14,056	98.7	99.3	10	13		061440001669
24	Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle	Public	6-8	480 East Meadow Dr.	Palo Alto	94306	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 856-5188	1,002	67	14.8	10.7%	237 (23.7%)	9 (0.9%)	98 (9.8%)	553 (55.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	99 (9.9%)	$31,446			$1,062			$30,384	98.6	98.4	33	9		062961004598
25	College Preparatory Middle	Public, Charter	5-8	10269 Madrid Way	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	College Preparatory Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 303-2782	397	20	19.6	42.8%	227 (57.2%)	17 (4.3%)	106 (26.7%)	20 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.8%)	$10,901			$00			$10,901	98.6	97.9	58	33		060163814334
26	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	777 Aileen St.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 384-1415	590	25	23.6	18.5%	273 (46.3%)	5 (0.8%)	151 (25.6%)	83 (14.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	77 (13.1%)	$11,168			$80			$11,088	98.5	96.9	97	71		060202211873
27	Petaluma Accelerated Charter	Public, Charter	7-8	110 Ellis St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma Joint Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4750	115	5	25.3	27.8%	61 (53.0%)	1 (0.9%)	34 (29.6%)	10 (8.7%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.0%)	$6,477			$602			$5,875	98.5	99.4	9	18		063025013937
28	Pacific Trails Middle	Public	7-8	5975 Village Center Loop Rd.	San Diego	92130	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 350-0253	971	40	24.4	12.0%	306 (31.5%)	6 (0.6%)	121 (12.5%)	440 (45.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	94 (9.7%)	$13,317			$467			$12,850	98.5	98.6	25	3		063438013861
29	Windemere Ranch Middle	Public	6-8	11611 East Branch Pkwy.	San Ramon	94582	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-7400	1,011	42	23.9	8.2%	60 (5.9%)	18 (1.8%)	33 (3.3%)	850 (84.1%)	4 (0.4%)	4 (0.4%)	42 (4.2%)	$13,674			$261			$13,413	98.5	98.7	24	5		063513010759
30	La Entrada Middle	Public	4-8	2200 Sharon Rd.	Menlo Park	94025	San Mateo County	Las Lomitas Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 854-3962	612	38	15.9	6.9%	288 (47.1%)	4 (0.7%)	105 (17.2%)	130 (21.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (13.9%)	$31,294			$813			$30,481	98.4	99	18	12		062238002674

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.