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
91	Monterey Highlands Elementary	Public	K-8	400 Casuda Canyon Dr.	Monterey Park	91754	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 570-6220	917	39	23.8	35.1%	21 (2.3%)	4 (0.4%)	309 (33.7%)	529 (57.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	53 (5.8%)	$11,641			$994			$10,647	96.8	97.2	85	6		060015310941
92	Palos Verdes Intermediate	Public	6-8	2161 Via Olivera	Palos Verdes Estates	90274	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 544-4816	735	33	22.5	9.4%	332 (45.2%)	11 (1.5%)	114 (15.5%)	193 (26.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (11.6%)	$15,551			$489			$15,062	96.8	96.6	105	13		062970004610
93	Western Sierra Collegiate Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	660 Menlo Dr.	Rocklin	95765	Placer County	Western Sierra Collegiate Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 778-4544	776	38	20.2	13.5%	282 (36.3%)	4 (0.5%)	111 (14.3%)	294 (37.9%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (10.4%)	$11,848			$219			$11,629	96.8	95.6	133	40		060247312390
94	Raymond J. Fisher Middle	Public	6-8	19195 Fisher Ave.	Los Gatos	95032	Santa Clara County	Los Gatos Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 335-2300	1,015	55	18.4	5.6%	501 (49.4%)	11 (1.1%)	85 (8.4%)	322 (31.7%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (9.1%)	$18,943			$925			$18,018	96.8	97.4	77	17		062283003495
95	Beacon Park	Public	K-8	200 Cultivate	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-8400	1,065	39	27.4	12.9%	172 (16.2%)	6 (0.6%)	86 (8.1%)	705 (66.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	94 (8.8%)	$13,657			$401			$13,256	96.8	95.9	130	35		068450013996
96	Sherman Thomas STEM Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	101 West Adell St.	Madera	93638	Madera County	Sherman Thomas STEM Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 871-5490	75	3	27.2	36.0%	19 (25.3%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (66.7%)	4 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.7%)	$13,079			$117			$12,962	96.7	95.4	139	43		060222514101
97	Oak Valley Middle	Public	6-8	16055 Winecreek Rd.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-2939	1,503	60	24.9	8.4%	468 (31.1%)	12 (0.8%)	141 (9.4%)	729 (48.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.1%)	150 (10.0%)	$14,119			$560			$13,559	96.7	96.1	120	23		063153011134
98	Chaboya Middle	Public	7-8	3276 Cortona Dr.	San Jose	95135	Santa Clara County	Evergreen Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 270-6900	815	36	22.5	16.4%	50 (6.1%)	6 (0.7%)	113 (13.9%)	603 (74.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	41 (5.0%)	$11,877			$505			$11,372	96.6	97.9	55	43		061314010321
99	Willard Middle	Public	6-8	2425 Stuart St.	Berkeley	94705	Alameda County	Berkeley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 644-6330	596	34	17.3	27.5%	265 (44.5%)	59 (9.9%)	116 (19.5%)	63 (10.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (14.4%)	$23,208			$505			$22,703	96.6	95.1	151	52		060474007267
100	Frank S. Greene Junior Middle	Public	6-8	750 North California Ave.	Palo Alto	94303	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 494-8120	732	50	14.6	16.9%	207 (28.3%)	11 (1.5%)	171 (23.4%)	240 (32.8%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.2%)	87 (11.9%)	$32,462			$950			$31,512	96.5	97.3	82	18		062961010323

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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