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
1552	Rio Real Elementary	Public	K-8	1140 Kenney St.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 485-3117	794	32	24.4	82.6%	16 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	771 (97.1%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$23,042			$1,955			$21,087	37.8	29.2	1846	294		063276005092
1553	Prairie Vista Middle	Public	6-8	13600 South Prairie Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 679-1003	674	26	25.8	94.2%	8 (1.2%)	137 (20.3%)	489 (72.6%)	19 (2.8%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (1.8%)	7 (1.0%)	$20,243			$4,286			$15,957	37.8	35.3	1611	58		061668007520
1554	KIPP Bridge Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1700 Market St.	Oakland	94607	Alameda County	KIPP Bridge Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 929-0437	520	25	20.6	90.2%	49 (9.4%)	294 (56.5%)	121 (23.3%)	11 (2.1%)	8 (1.5%)	12 (2.3%)	25 (4.8%)	$40,860			$3,042			$37,818	37.7	45.4	1303	251		060227611935
1555	San Jacinto Technology Institute	Public, Virtual	K-8	1599 Malaga Dr. West	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 929-7700	191	10	19.1	89.0%	22 (11.5%)	15 (7.9%)	140 (73.3%)	2 (1.0%)	3 (1.6%)	3 (1.6%)	6 (3.1%)	$14,856			$13,072			$1,784	37.6	26.7	1966	411		063444014534
1556	Sotomayor Arts and Sciences Magnet	Public	6-12	2050 San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 276-5402	517	32	16.1	95.4%	14 (2.7%)	7 (1.4%)	475 (91.9%)	17 (3.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	$27,964			$6,368			$21,596	37.6	27.4	1927	371		062271012916
1557	Walnut Park Mid B Sci Technical Engr and Math Academy	Public	6-8	7500 Marbrisa Ave.	Walnut Park	90255	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 277-2600	365	18	20.5	94.8%	8 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	354 (97.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$20,405			$3,562			$16,843	37.5	36.3	1586	29		062271013138
1558	William Mulholland Middle	Public	6-8	17120 Vanowen St.	Lake Balboa	91406	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 609-2500	1,098	57	19.3	93.5%	80 (7.3%)	24 (2.2%)	939 (85.5%)	39 (3.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.3%)	$23,355			$4,529			$18,826	37.5	38.5	1519	39		062271003205
1559	Stella Middle Charter Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	4301 West Martin Luther King J	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	Stella Middle Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 406-7155	474	18	26	94.9%	3 (0.6%)	82 (17.3%)	378 (79.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.9%)	$22,857			$2,436			$20,421	37.4	47.4	1238	321		060188911361
1560	Barbara Spratling Middle	Public	6-8	5277 Washington Rd.	Hughson	95326	Stanislaus County	Keyes Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 664-3833	239	11	21	90.0%	13 (5.4%)	1 (0.4%)	204 (85.4%)	17 (7.1%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$19,476			$2,982			$16,494	37.4	28.7	1872	312		061962010692
1561	Utah Street Elementary	Public	K-8	255 Gabriel Garcia Marquez St.	Los Angeles	90033	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 261-1171	360	23	15.9	95.6%	2 (0.6%)	8 (2.2%)	338 (93.9%)	7 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$39,675			$6,423			$33,252	37.4	35.7	1601	40		062271003414

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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