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
551	Clark Intermediate	Public	7-8	902 Fifth St.	Clovis	93612	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-1500	1,437	64	22.4	55.3%	454 (31.6%)	34 (2.4%)	688 (47.9%)	180 (12.5%)	10 (0.7%)	5 (0.3%)	66 (4.6%)	$13,118			$620			$12,498	76.6	74.7	595	44		060903000903
552	Griffiths (Gordon) Middle	Public	6-8	9633 Tweedy Ln.	Downey	90240	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3580	1,264	54	23.2	77.0%	72 (5.7%)	27 (2.1%)	1,120 (88.6%)	30 (2.4%)	5 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.6%)	$18,170			$2,832			$15,338	76.5	70.1	683	131		061146001268
553	Colina Middle	Public	6-8	1500 East Hillcrest Dr.	Thousand Oaks	91362	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 495-7429	832	38	21.7	26.2%	406 (48.8%)	12 (1.4%)	295 (35.5%)	56 (6.7%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	57 (6.9%)	$15,792			$1,071			$14,721	76.5	81.1	457	96		060964001007
554	Cabrillo Elementary	Public	K-8	601 Crespi Dr.	Pacifica	94044	San Mateo County	Pacifica	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 738-6660	524	23	22.4	13.5%	265 (50.6%)	1 (0.2%)	127 (24.2%)	45 (8.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (16.2%)	$8,872			$1,616			$7,256	76.5	84	398	156		062046002458
555	Redwood Middle	Public	6-8	233 West Gainsborough Rd.	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 497-7264	589	26	22.3	27.5%	275 (46.7%)	11 (1.9%)	229 (38.9%)	32 (5.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	37 (6.3%)	$15,819			$1,052			$14,767	76.3	82.4	432	123		060964001022
556	Castillero Middle	Public	6-8	6384 Leyland Park Dr.	San Jose	95120	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6385	865	38	22.8	32.0%	273 (31.6%)	13 (1.5%)	348 (40.2%)	146 (16.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	83 (9.6%)	$20,359			$620			$19,739	76.3	78.9	506	50		063459005707
557	Harvest Ridge Cooperative Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	9050 Old State Hwy.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Harvest Ridge Cooperative Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 259-1425	349	16	21.6	12.3%	275 (78.8%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (14.0%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.0%)	$10,963			$144			$10,819	76.2	67	744	187		060221612790
558	Temecula Valley Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	35755 Abelia St.	Winchester	92596	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 294-6775	596	27	22.4	28.0%	205 (34.4%)	30 (5.0%)	237 (39.8%)	58 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	63 (10.6%)	$12,476			$291			$12,185	76.1	59.2	906	348		060206803648
559	Marshall Academy of the Arts	Public	6-8	5870 East Wardlow Rd.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 429-7013	940	40	23.7	45.0%	210 (22.3%)	89 (9.5%)	468 (49.8%)	85 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	83 (8.8%)	$18,885			$3,559			$15,326	76.1	76.2	565	6		062250002743
560	Earl Warren Junior High	Public	7-8	4615 Mountain Vista Dr.	Bakersfield	93311	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 665-9210	965	46	21	59.4%	207 (21.5%)	72 (7.5%)	458 (47.5%)	167 (17.3%)	5 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	54 (5.6%)	$14,453			$1,265			$13,188	76.1	76	567	7		060639003104

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.