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
981	New Heights Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2202 West Martin Luther King J	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	New Heights Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 508-0155	394	20	19.7	87.6%	3 (0.8%)	90 (22.8%)	296 (75.1%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$21,714			$2,396			$19,318	56.7	54.6	1027	46		060147711630
982	Hillside Middle	Public	6-8	2222 East Fitzgerald Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6810	1,138	50	22.7	45.5%	360 (31.6%)	16 (1.4%)	509 (44.7%)	190 (16.7%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	55 (4.8%)	$15,112			$1,022			$14,090	56.7	61.6	848	134		063684006255
983	Pepper Drive Elementary	Public	K-8	1935 Marlinda Way	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 956-5100	661	27	24.5	58.2%	288 (43.6%)	29 (4.4%)	257 (38.9%)	31 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	54 (8.2%)	$16,633			$876			$15,757	56.6	62.5	830	153		063588006142
984	West Cottonwood Junior High	Public	5-8	20512 West First St.	Cottonwood	96022	Shasta County	Cottonwood Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 347-3123	419	21	19.5	50.6%	273 (65.2%)	2 (0.5%)	86 (20.5%)	5 (1.2%)	24 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.9%)	$17,494			$1,519			$15,975	56.6	58.3	927	57		060999001086
985	Paradise Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	3361 California Ave.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Paradise Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 524-0184	118	5	26.2	62.7%	12 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (68.6%)	18 (15.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.9%)	$17,177			$687			$16,490	56.5	68.7	705	280		062979011813
986	San Diego Cooperative Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	7260 Linda Vista Rd.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Cooperative Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-1613	454	25	18.1	50.7%	156 (34.4%)	21 (4.6%)	180 (39.6%)	42 (9.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (11.7%)	$14,340			$1,336			$13,004	56.5	60.1	883	103		060180910636
987	South Fork Elementary	Public	K-8	5225 Kelso Valley Rd.	Weldon	93283	Kern County	South Fork Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 378-4000	348	18	19.4	79.0%	219 (62.9%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (24.7%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (10.3%)	$13,481			$2,893			$10,588	56.5	63	816	171		063747006331
988	Caliber: Beta Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2465 Dolan Way	San Pablo	94806	Contra Costa County	Caliber: Beta Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 685-9886	971	53	18.3	79.8%	27 (2.8%)	167 (17.2%)	636 (65.5%)	115 (11.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	22 (2.3%)	$17,624			$1,368			$16,256	56.4	53.9	1044	56		060172613746
989	Alvarado Intermediate	Public	7-8	1901 South Desire Ave.	Rowland Heights	91748	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 964-2358	624	28	22.4	79.8%	9 (1.4%)	3 (0.5%)	299 (47.9%)	290 (46.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	20 (3.2%)	$14,745			$1,076			$13,669	56.4	60.7	867	122		063375005197
990	Ready Springs Elementary	Public	4-8	10862 Spenceville Rd.	Penn Valley	95946	Nevada County	Penn Valley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 432-1118	255	14	18.6	56.9%	181 (71.0%)	4 (1.6%)	46 (18.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (9.0%)	$12,977			$1,500			$11,477	56.4	45.4	1299	309		060142704919

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.