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
1141	Plumas Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1425 East Main St.	Quincy	95971	Plumas County	Plumas Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 283-3851	349	16	21.7	56.2%	248 (71.1%)	2 (0.6%)	39 (11.2%)	4 (1.1%)	10 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (13.2%)								51.8	48.4	1207	66		060177307601
1142	Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	6251 13th St.	Sacramento	95831	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4510	476	21	22.7	27.3%	253 (53.2%)	19 (4.0%)	122 (25.6%)	23 (4.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (12.0%)	$22,340			$3,450			$18,890	51.7	51.2	1131	11		063384007242
1143	Stone Bridge	Public, Charter	K-8	1019 2nd Ave.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Stone Bridge District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 252-5522	278	10	27.8	18.3%	171 (61.5%)	3 (1.1%)	56 (20.1%)	12 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (12.6%)	$11,212			$00			$11,212	51.6	68.7	706	437		060197810975
1144	Richfield Elementary	Public	K-8	23875 River Rd.	Corning	96021	Tehama County	Richfield Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 824-3354	253	11	23	52.2%	107 (42.3%)	0 (0.0%)	134 (53.0%)	4 (1.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.8%)	$8,245			$2,659			$5,586	51.6	48.7	1202	58		063240005000
1145	Rio Valley Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1110 West Kettleman Drive Ste.	Lodi	95240	San Joaquin County	Rio Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 368-4934	714	32	22.4	65.4%	267 (37.4%)	31 (4.3%)	257 (36.0%)	118 (16.5%)	20 (2.8%)	8 (1.1%)	13 (1.8%)	$14,782			$1,052			$13,730	51.5	50.8	1148	3		060176512723
1146	James E. Potter Intermediate	Public	7-8	1743 Reche Rd.	Fallbrook	92028	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4150	828	38	21.7	81.5%	133 (16.1%)	5 (0.6%)	649 (78.4%)	11 (1.3%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	26 (3.1%)	$20,777			$1,921			$18,856	51.5	44.2	1335	189		061350001540
1147	Outside Creek Elementary	Public	K-8	26452 Road 164	Visalia	93292	Tulare County	Outside Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 747-0710	125	5	26	54.4%	25 (20.0%)	0 (0.0%)	99 (79.2%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,034			$830			$11,204	51.5	63.1	814	333		062916004498
1148	Freedom Middle	Public	7-8	11445 Noriega Rd.	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Rosedale Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 588-6044	712	34	20.8	38.6%	287 (40.3%)	16 (2.2%)	350 (49.2%)	22 (3.1%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	32 (4.5%)	$11,973			$45			$11,928	51.4	65.6	780	368		063348008495
1149	California Virtual Academy @ San Joaquin	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy @ San Joaquin District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	3,219	115	28.1	66.1%	737 (22.9%)	438 (13.6%)	1,257 (39.0%)	462 (14.4%)	25 (0.8%)	50 (1.6%)	250 (7.8%)	$11,035			$364			$10,671	51.4	37.8	1536	387		060199013191
1150	Grow Academy Arvin	Public, Charter	K-8	901 Nectarine Ct.	Arvin	93203	Kern County	Grow Academy Arvin District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 855-8200	87	4	19.5	85.1%	1 (1.1%)	2 (2.3%)	84 (96.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,119			$2,846			$20,273	51.4	39.8	1472	322		060245412948

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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