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
721	Fremont Elementary	Public	K-8	2001 South Elm St.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3360	654	32	20.4	39.3%	23 (3.5%)	2 (0.3%)	486 (74.3%)	113 (17.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (4.3%)	$14,345			$1,338			$13,007	67.7	73.6	618	103		060015310936
722	Freshwater Charter Middle	Public, Charter	7-8	75 Greenwood Heights Dr.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	Freshwater Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 442-2969	51	2	25.5	47.1%	32 (62.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (27.5%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (7.8%)	$3,642			$104			$3,538	67.6	76.6	553	169		061452007974
723	Idyllwild	Public	K-8	26700 State Highway 243	Idyllwild	92549	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 659-0750	268	16	17.2	72.0%	141 (52.6%)	0 (0.0%)	111 (41.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.2%)	$29,133			$3,481			$25,652	67.6	70.1	681	42		061692002155
724	Rio Vista Middle	Public	7-8	6240 West Palo Alto	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-3185	851	37	22.9	68.6%	141 (16.6%)	64 (7.5%)	468 (55.0%)	151 (17.7%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	22 (2.6%)								67.6	63.1	813	89		060797010494
725	Shivela Middle	Public	6-8	24515 Lincoln Ave.	Murrieta	92562	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1406	1,282	46	27.8	66.1%	331 (25.8%)	87 (6.8%)	604 (47.1%)	106 (8.3%)	4 (0.3%)	14 (1.1%)	135 (10.5%)	$14,632			$433			$14,199	67.6	72.1	650	75		060002909686
726	Coastal Grove Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1897 S St.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Coastal Grove Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 825-8804	235	16	14.8	60.9%	181 (77.0%)	5 (2.1%)	19 (8.1%)	2 (0.9%)	7 (3.0%)	1 (0.4%)	18 (7.7%)	$16,765			$550			$16,215	67.6	75.1	588	138		060216810500
727	Dual Language Immersion North County	Public, Charter	K-8	2030 University Dr.	Vista	92803	San Diego County	Dual Language Immersion North County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-6200	276	16	17.4	44.9%	55 (19.9%)	5 (1.8%)	195 (70.7%)	7 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.1%)	$15,763			$1,045			$14,718	67.5	61.2	859	132		060195414341
728	Campus Canyon Elementary	Public	K-8	15300 Monroe Ave.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-6301	545	22	24.4	35.2%	194 (35.6%)	10 (1.8%)	278 (51.0%)	33 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	28 (5.1%)	$15,246			$1,289			$13,957	67.5	58.2	928	200		062569009157
729	John Muir	Public	K-8	4431 Mt. Herbert Ave.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 268-1954	336	17	19.7	43.8%	100 (29.8%)	21 (6.3%)	181 (53.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (9.8%)	$23,931			$3,140			$20,791	67.5	49.4	1191	462		063432005487
730	Sanger Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2207 Ninth St.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6840	609	29	21.3	69.0%	23 (3.8%)	3 (0.5%)	552 (90.6%)	23 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.0%)	$13,265			$990			$12,275	67.4	54.7	1024	294		063525008475

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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