Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
1472	Victor Valley Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	7-12	16350 Mojave Dr.	Victorville	92395	San Bernardino County	Victor Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 955-3201	91	3	28.1	79.1%	2 (2.2%)	16 (17.6%)	67 (73.6%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.4%)								40.8	27.4	1928	456		063697214469
1473	Robinson Academy	Public	K-8	1400 E. 20th St.	Long Beach	90806	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 492-6003	708	28	24.8	83.1%	5 (0.7%)	116 (16.4%)	521 (73.6%)	36 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.0%)	16 (2.3%)	$19,088			$3,965			$15,123	40.8	30	1812	339		062250003226
1474	Pleasant Valley School of Engineering and Arts	Public	K-8	700 Temple Ave.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5340	540	29	18.7	60.9%	86 (15.9%)	14 (2.6%)	381 (70.6%)	41 (7.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.1%)	$15,664			$1,732			$13,932	40.8	44.3	1330	144		063099004798
1475	Kennedy Elementary	Public	K-8	1701 East Tulare Rd.	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-5466	376	15	25	87.8%	18 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	352 (93.6%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	$25,559			$3,803			$21,756	40.8	43.3	1363	112		062187012815
1476	Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	500 Oregon St.	Vallejo	94590	Solano County	Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 563-9827	975	47	20.6	76.8%	32 (3.3%)	228 (23.4%)	563 (57.7%)	86 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	63 (6.5%)	$15,746			$817			$14,929	40.7	30.7	1779	303		060158214030
1477	Yorba Middle	Public	7-8	935 North Cambridge	Orange	92867	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6161	418	23	18.1	88.5%	23 (5.5%)	2 (0.5%)	381 (91.1%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	$16,874			$1,515			$15,359	40.7	37	1568	91		062865004459
1478	Rio Linda Preparatory Academy	Public	7-8	1101 G St.	Rio Linda	95673	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2720	331	17	20	88.2%	82 (24.8%)	13 (3.9%)	151 (45.6%)	43 (13.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.8%)	36 (10.9%)	$25,591			$3,856			$21,735	40.6	27	1952	474		060133201992
1479	Cottonwood	Public	K-8	44260 Sage Rd.	Aguanga	92536	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 767-3870	197	13	15.4	73.6%	73 (37.1%)	0 (0.0%)	113 (57.4%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.1%)	$30,950			$4,012			$26,938	40.6	25.2	2024	545		061692002150
1480	Pacific Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2371 Fenton St.	Chula Vista	91914	San Diego County	Pacific Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	489	18	27.3	54.0%	75 (15.3%)	16 (3.3%)	310 (63.4%)	39 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	45 (9.2%)								40.5	43.7	1349	131		060203514290
1481	Vista La Mesa Academy	Public	K-8	3900 Violet St.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	Lemon Grove	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 825-5645	518	21	24.2	71.8%	51 (9.8%)	75 (14.5%)	325 (62.7%)	39 (7.5%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)	19 (3.7%)	$19,264			$2,452			$16,812	40.5	54.4	1033	448		062133002556

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.