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
2562	Toro Canyon Middle	Public	7-8	86150 Avenue 66	Thermal	92274	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 397-2244	989	46	21.5	97.1%	7 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	961 (97.2%)	2 (0.2%)	10 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.8%)	$29,501			$1,275			$28,226	11.6	13	2550	12		060907011174
2563	Alpaugh Elementary	Public	K-8	5313 Road 39	Alpaugh	93201	Tulare County	Alpaugh Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 949-8413	249	11	22.9	78.7%	18 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	231 (92.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,281			$2,301			$8,980	11.6	9.1	2691	128		060201000087
2564	Escuela Popular Accelerated Family Learning	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	149 North White Rd.	San Jose	95127	Santa Clara County	Escuela Popular Accelerated Family Learning District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 275-7190	396	22	18	92.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	395 (99.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$21,492			$3,527			$17,965	11.6	11.5	2611	47		060190610666
2565	Pinacate Middle	Public	7-8	1990 South A St.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 943-6441	952	40	23.9	94.7%	18 (1.9%)	47 (4.9%)	871 (91.5%)	8 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.8%)	$19,890			$1,585			$18,305	11.6	12.2	2577	12		063021009176
2566	Kingswood K-8	Public	K-8	5700 Primrose Dr.	Citrus Heights	95610	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5246	546	27	20	81.1%	155 (28.4%)	49 (9.0%)	258 (47.3%)	31 (5.7%)	5 (0.9%)	7 (1.3%)	41 (7.5%)	$18,510			$3,673			$14,837	11.6	11.3	2615	49		063462005788
2567	Bret Harte Preparatory Middle	Public	6-8	9301 South Hoover St.	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 242-5400	456	28	16.1	97.4%	4 (0.9%)	131 (28.7%)	307 (67.3%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.4%)	$33,736			$9,088			$24,648	11.5	10.6	2648	81		062271003073
2568	Loleta Elementary	Public	K-8	700 Loleta Dr.	Loleta	95551	Humboldt County	Loleta Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 733-5705	82	5	16.4	85.4%	12 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (46.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (36.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.4%)								11.4			(n/a)		062232002671
2569	John Marshall Elementary	Public	K-8	1141 Lever Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7405	394	21	19.1	81.7%	11 (2.8%)	50 (12.7%)	249 (63.2%)	61 (15.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (5.3%)	$23,715			$3,384			$20,331	11.4	9.9	2668	99		063801011778
2570	Elmhurst United Middle	Public	6-8	1800 98th Ave.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3229	729	48	15.2	99.5%	13 (1.8%)	128 (17.6%)	538 (73.8%)	13 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.5%)	19 (2.6%)	$27,030			$4,659			$22,371	11.4	11	2631	61		062805011961
2571	Sierra Preparatory Academy	Public	K-8	2021 North Grand Ave.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 567-3500	697	40	17.3	94.1%	3 (0.4%)	5 (0.7%)	681 (97.7%)	4 (0.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$25,065			$968			$24,097	11.4	11.7	2605	34		063531006007

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.