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
411	Horace Ensign Intermediate	Public	7-8	2000 Cliff Dr.	Newport Beach	92663	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6910	875	42	20.9	47.2%	432 (49.4%)	3 (0.3%)	364 (41.6%)	14 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (6.9%)	$23,991			$1,831			$22,160	83.2	86.6	353	58		062724004113
412	Park Elementary	Public	K-8	301 North Marengo Ave.	Alhambra	91801	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3640	581	24	24.2	45.1%	17 (2.9%)	12 (2.1%)	350 (60.2%)	169 (29.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (5.7%)	$11,823			$1,072			$10,751	83.1	82.2	437	25		060015310942
413	Twin Hills Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1685 Watertrough Rd.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Twin Hills Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 823-7446	207	12	16.9	21.3%	120 (58.0%)	1 (0.5%)	50 (24.2%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (15.0%)	$19,223			$332			$18,891	83.1	87.4	338	75		064023006653
414	Wells Middle	Public	6-8	6800 Penn Dr.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 828-6227	1,041	44	23.8	22.5%	222 (21.3%)	47 (4.5%)	190 (18.3%)	464 (44.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	111 (10.7%)	$15,392			$1,425			$13,967	83	80.7	464	50		060001909278
415	OUSD EDGE Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	250 South Yorba	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(714) 628-5467	229	14	15.9	43.2%	63 (27.5%)	4 (1.7%)	140 (61.1%)	12 (5.2%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.5%)	$17,468			$4,119			$13,349	82.9	49.9	1175	760		062865014496
416	Community Roots Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	29292 Crown Valley Pkwy.	Laguna Niguel	92677	Orange County	Community Roots Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 831-4272	780	49	15.8	13.5%	501 (64.2%)	1 (0.1%)	116 (14.9%)	46 (5.9%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	112 (14.4%)	$14,216			$218			$13,998	82.9	81.6	448	32		060233112651
417	California Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	4645 Buckeye Rd.	Shingle Springs	95682	El Dorado County	CA Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 672-3095	543	23	23.5	16.8%	401 (73.8%)	1 (0.2%)	73 (13.4%)	17 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (9.4%)	$12,334			$350			$11,984	82.9	89.8	281	136		060197611580
418	Maple Elementary	Public	K-8	29161 Fresno Ave.	Shafter	93263	Kern County	Maple Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 746-4439	287	12	24	60.3%	58 (20.2%)	0 (0.0%)	226 (78.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,413			$1,733			$15,680	82.9	62.1	839	421		062376003594
419	Kastner Intermediate	Public	7-8	7676 North First St.	Fresno	93720	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-2500	1,155	56	20.7	52.4%	284 (24.6%)	69 (6.0%)	591 (51.2%)	127 (11.0%)	7 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	72 (6.2%)	$13,730			$751			$12,979	82.9	77.5	539	120		060903008810
420	Helen Stacey Middle	Public	6-8	6311 Larchwood Dr.	Huntington Beach	92647	Orange County	Westminster	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 894-7212	947	39	24.1	64.9%	187 (19.7%)	2 (0.2%)	408 (43.1%)	293 (30.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.7%)	50 (5.3%)	$21,535			$2,686			$18,849	82.9	81.8	443	23		064215006903

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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:

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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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