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
2682	Alpha: Jose Hernandez	Public, Charter	K-8	1601 Cunningham Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Alpha: Jose Hernandez District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 780-1551	440	20	22.1	90.9%	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	426 (96.8%)	9 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$18,870			$4,038			$14,832	7.8	10.6	2645	37		060214413757
2683	Mojave River Academy - National Trails	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	851 South Mt. Vernon	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Mojave River Academy - National Trails District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-3222	801	32	24.9	82.4%	135 (16.9%)	26 (3.2%)	582 (72.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.2%)	3 (0.4%)	41 (5.1%)	$10,355			$766			$9,589	7.8	8.4	2709	26		060193514219
2684	Madison Park Academy 6-12	Public	6-12	400 Capistrano Dr.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2315	676	38	17.5	98.4%	5 (0.7%)	74 (10.9%)	554 (82.0%)	10 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	15 (2.2%)	17 (2.5%)	$25,841			$4,206			$21,635	7.7	9	2694	10		062805004278
2685	Helms Middle	Public	7-8	2500 Road 20	San Pablo	94806	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 233-3988	558	25	22.1	81.9%	9 (1.6%)	28 (5.0%)	485 (86.9%)	28 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.3%)	$6,700			$1,881			$4,819	7.7	8	2717	32		063255005034
2686	Rutherford B. Gaston Senior Middle	Public	7-8	1100 East Church Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3400	814	46	17.5	95.6%	21 (2.6%)	115 (14.1%)	604 (74.2%)	46 (5.7%)	8 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.5%)	$20,170			$2,489			$17,681	7.7	9.4	2685	1		061455013767
2687	Riverbank Elementary	Public	K-8	1100 Carrie St.	West Sacramento	95605	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7700	599	35	17.2	88.5%	87 (14.5%)	20 (3.3%)	353 (58.9%)	103 (17.2%)	4 (0.7%)	12 (2.0%)	20 (3.3%)								7.7	16	2439	248		064158012263
2688	City Heights Preparatory Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	4260 54th St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	City Heights Preparatory Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 795-3137	160	10	16.7	100.0%	31 (19.4%)	44 (27.5%)	68 (42.5%)	10 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.4%)	$20,290			$4,186			$16,104	7.7	11.1	2625	63		060170012961
2689	Thomas Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	83-089 Highway 111	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 863-3660	591	22	26.9	92.0%	13 (2.2%)	4 (0.7%)	538 (91.0%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.1%)	$19,887			$3,181			$16,706	7.7	12	2590	99		061111001228
2690	New Vista Middle	Public	6-8	753 East Avenue K-2	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 726-4271	835	46	18.1	91.3%	38 (4.6%)	312 (37.4%)	450 (53.9%)	8 (1.0%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (2.4%)	$23,441			$2,849			$20,592	7.6	9.1	2692	2		062088005860
2691	Revere (Paul) Elementary	Public	K-8	555 Tompkins Ave.	San Francisco	94110	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 695-5656	453	25	18.4	72.2%	7 (1.5%)	34 (7.5%)	349 (77.0%)	27 (6.0%)	5 (1.1%)	3 (0.7%)	28 (6.2%)	$24,570			$2,496			$22,074	7.6	6.1	2747	56		063441005654

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.