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
1261	Bell Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	28525 La Piedra Dr.	Menifee	92584	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 301-8496	1,066	44	24.4	61.6%	208 (19.5%)	52 (4.9%)	497 (46.6%)	61 (5.7%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	242 (22.7%)	$16,111			$1,151			$14,960	47.1	49.7	1181	80		062454010582
1262	JCS - Pine Valley	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	28876 Old Highway 80	Pine Valley	91962	San Diego County	JCS - Pine Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 473-1300	184	15	12.4	46.2%	111 (60.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (26.1%)	2 (1.1%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (9.8%)	$16,648			$766			$15,882	47	46.7	1257	5		060236614333
1263	Suncoast Preparatory Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3857 Birch St. #297	Newport Beach	92660	Orange County	Suncoast Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 994-6724	1,459	48	30.1	38.3%	827 (56.7%)	40 (2.7%)	323 (22.1%)	68 (4.7%)	11 (0.8%)	4 (0.3%)	181 (12.4%)	$10,341			$85			$10,256	47	50.9	1144	119		060175714337
1264	Burney Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	37571 Mountain View Rd.	Burney	96013	Shasta County	Fall River Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 335-4576	231	15	15.1	58.4%	130 (56.3%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (19.9%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (15.6%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (8.2%)	$13,729			$1,382			$12,347	46.9	29.4	1837	573		061347001533
1265	Pleasant Grove	Public	K-8	3075 Howsley Rd.	Pleasant Grove	95668	Sutter County	Pleasant Grove Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 655-3235	161	8	20.1	37.9%	108 (67.1%)	2 (1.2%)	35 (21.7%)	3 (1.9%)	2 (1.2%)	2 (1.2%)	9 (5.6%)	$13,886			$466			$13,420	46.9	45.1	1311	46		063090004791
1266	Heartland Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	955 Stanislaus	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Heartland Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 829-0099	5,970	161	37.1	42.2%	3,436 (57.6%)	83 (1.4%)	1,806 (30.3%)	81 (1.4%)	18 (0.3%)	8 (0.1%)	532 (8.9%)	$12,876			$842			$12,034	46.9	44.3	1334	68		060159014226
1267	California Online Public Schools Central Coast	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	33272 Valle Rd.	San Juan Capistrano	92675	Orange County	California Online Public Schools Central Coast District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(800) 906-5166	105	4	28.6	48.6%	51 (48.6%)	1 (1.0%)	38 (36.2%)	1 (1.0%)	2 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (11.4%)	$12,837			$140			$12,697	46.9			(n/a)		060248814411
1268	Empowering Possibilities International Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2945 Ramco St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Empowering Possibilities International Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-5130	426	20	21.4	70.7%	382 (89.7%)	3 (0.7%)	23 (5.4%)	8 (1.9%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.6%)	$18,524			$1,688			$16,836	46.8	35.1	1622	354		060214713935
1269	Enterprise Alternative	Public, Alternative	K-12	1550 Herndon Ave.	Clovis	93611	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-1900	50	5	9.8	54.0%	16 (32.0%)	1 (2.0%)	22 (44.0%)	6 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.0%)	$10,077			$354			$9,723	46.8			(n/a)		060903009760
1270	George V. LeyVa Intermediate	Public	7-8	1865 Monrovia Dr.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Evergreen Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 270-4993	486	34	14.4	61.7%	12 (2.5%)	14 (2.9%)	247 (50.8%)	188 (38.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	22 (4.5%)	$15,305			$840			$14,465	46.7	51.1	1136	134		061314001493

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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:

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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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