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
1672	Crown Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	2055 West 24th St.	Los Angeles	90018	Los Angeles County	Crown Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 448-9747	446	28	15.7	94.4%	0 (0.0%)	35 (7.8%)	408 (91.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$18,658			$2,580			$16,078	34.2	29.9	1819	147		060184912811
1673	Animo Florence-Firestone Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	8255 Beach St.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Animo Florence-Firestone Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-3280	437	21	20.4	97.3%	3 (0.7%)	5 (1.1%)	428 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$24,887			$3,078			$21,809	34.1	42.1	1392	281		060209614036
1674	Richmond Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1450 Marina Way South	Richmond	94804	Contra Costa County	Richmond Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 235-2465	296	8	36.7	82.1%	7 (2.4%)	12 (4.1%)	270 (91.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.4%)	$26,984			$1,709			$25,275	34.1	43.1	1370	304		060212113164
1675	California Military Institute	Public, Charter	5-12	755 North A St.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 443-2731	1,031	43	23.9	89.8%	35 (3.4%)	34 (3.3%)	934 (90.6%)	14 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	12 (1.2%)	$17,591			$383			$17,208	34.1	21.6	2194	519		063021011184
1676	Lee Middle	Public	7-8	520 West St.	Woodland	95695	Yolo County	Woodland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 662-0251	575	32	17.8	75.1%	103 (17.9%)	5 (0.9%)	407 (70.8%)	18 (3.1%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	38 (6.6%)	$10,083			$3,314			$6,769	34.1	28.5	1880	204		064308007005
1677	Richard Henry Dana Middle	Public	6-8	1501 South Cabrillo Ave.	San Pedro	90731	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 241-1100	1,355	64	21.2	82.0%	140 (10.3%)	99 (7.3%)	1,029 (75.9%)	23 (1.7%)	3 (0.2%)	9 (0.7%)	52 (3.8%)	$20,221			$3,430			$16,791	34.1	34.6	1647	30		062271002947
1678	Hollister Dual Language Academy	Public	K-8	873 Santa Ana Rd. Ste. 200	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 634-4930	858	36	23.6	62.0%	39 (4.5%)	1 (0.1%)	810 (94.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	$12,404			$1,482			$10,922	34.1	34.1	1662	16		061734012075
1679	California Online Public Schools Central Valley	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5313 Road 39	Alpaugh	93201	Tulare County	California Online Public Schools Central Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(800) 906-5166	729			68.7%	255 (35.0%)	36 (4.9%)	336 (46.1%)	12 (1.6%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	80 (11.0%)	$13,398			$917			$12,481	34	32.8	1711	32		060241111819
1680	Impact Academy of Arts & Technology	Public, Charter	6-12	2560 Darwin St.	Hayward	94545	Alameda County	Impact Academy of Arts & Technology District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 300-1560	716	36	19.8	52.8%	24 (3.4%)	18 (2.5%)	450 (62.8%)	90 (12.6%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (4.2%)	103 (14.4%)	$13,993			$1,687			$12,306	34	39.6	1479	201		060164711849
1681	Brittan Elementary	Public	K-8	2340 Pepper St.	Sutter	95982	Sutter County	Brittan Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-5155	539	26	20.5	34.7%	357 (66.2%)	0 (0.0%)	136 (25.2%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (7.6%)	$12,105			$2,378			$9,727	34	46.5	1269	412		060609000544

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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

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