Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
2662	Moreno Valley Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	24521 Cactus Ave.	Moreno Valley	92553	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 571-4970	722	19	38.6	89.9%	49 (6.8%)	91 (12.6%)	517 (71.6%)	26 (3.6%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (1.1%)	29 (4.0%)	$15,554			$1,840			$13,714	8.3	12.4	2567	95		062580013683
2663	Martin Luther King Junior Technology Academy	Public	7-8	3051 Fairfield St.	Sacramento	95815	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3490	503	27	18.3	97.4%	28 (5.6%)	70 (13.9%)	248 (49.3%)	109 (21.7%)	2 (0.4%)	10 (2.0%)	32 (6.4%)	$19,913			$3,028			$16,885	8.2	7.8	2720	57		060133207729
2664	Academia Avance Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	115 North Avenue 53	Highland Park	90042	Los Angeles County	Academia Avance Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 230-7270	207	9	22.8	87.4%	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	201 (97.1%)	4 (1.9%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$34,480			$5,255			$29,225	8.2	10	2667	3		060229110895
2665	Mojave River Academy - Rockview Park	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	14466 Main St.	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Mojave River Academy - Rockview Park District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-3222	349	15	22.7	84.0%	89 (25.5%)	21 (6.0%)	215 (61.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	19 (5.4%)	$10,918			$1,013			$9,905	8.2	10.1	2663	2		060242714316
2666	Richard H. Lewis Alternative	Public, Alternative	K-12	15880 Dam Rd. Ext	Clearlake	95422	Lake County	Konocti Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 701-0264	118	6	21	72.0%	64 (54.2%)	4 (3.4%)	35 (29.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (11.0%)								8.2	8.5	2704	38		062007003176
2667	Bannon Creek	Public	K-8	2775 Millcreek Dr.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5600	491	23	21.6	84.1%	31 (6.3%)	151 (30.8%)	203 (41.3%)	34 (6.9%)	3 (0.6%)	13 (2.6%)	56 (11.4%)	$16,703			$2,163			$14,540	8.2	13.7	2527	140		060003601114
2668	Starr King K-8	Public	K-8	4848 Cottage Way	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7320	885	41	21.3	85.8%	232 (26.2%)	68 (7.7%)	116 (13.1%)	409 (46.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.1%)	50 (5.6%)	$17,430			$3,491			$13,939	8.2	9.7	2673	5		063462005822
2669	Mesa Linda Middle	Public	6-8	13001 Mesa Linda Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 246-6363	735	42	17.6	73.2%	29 (3.9%)	200 (27.2%)	439 (59.7%)	14 (1.9%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	49 (6.7%)	$20,247			$1,813			$18,434	8.2	6.9	2736	67		060171008288
2670	Hamilton	Public	6-12	57430 Mitchell Rd.	Anza	92539	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 763-1865	450	26	17.5	81.1%	151 (33.6%)	5 (1.1%)	223 (49.6%)	12 (2.7%)	30 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.8%)	$28,972			$2,450			$26,522	8.2	12.7	2562	108		061692011020
2671	Gerber Elementary	Public	K-8	23014 Chard Ave.	Gerber	96035	Tehama County	Gerber Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 385-1041	400	19	21	81.5%	71 (17.8%)	6 (1.5%)	314 (78.5%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$17,361			$2,046			$15,315	8.2	9	2695	24		061509001904

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.