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
1832	Willits Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	1431 South Main St.	Willits	95490	Mendocino County	Willits Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 459-5506	123	8	15	69.1%	78 (63.4%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (19.5%)	1 (0.8%)	3 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (9.8%)	$19,064			$3,977			$15,087	29.9	19.2	2288	456		060191608213
1833	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts	Public, Charter	6-12	2730 Mitchell Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 235-1130	285	13	21.9	29.1%	76 (26.7%)	34 (11.9%)	122 (42.8%)	11 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (14.4%)	$19,772			$1,631			$18,141	29.9	28.5	1877	44		060233614059
1834	Excelsior Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	18422 Bear Valley Rd. Bldg. 11	Victorville	92395	San Bernardino County	Excelsior Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-4262	2,170	94	22.9	72.3%	496 (22.9%)	195 (9.0%)	1,311 (60.4%)	24 (1.1%)	11 (0.5%)	6 (0.3%)	115 (5.3%)	$16,552			$624			$15,928	29.9	26	1995	161		060231305058
1835	Cesar Chavez Junior High	Public	7-8	2701 Eastgate Blvd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1830	685	31	21.8	86.7%	50 (7.3%)	11 (1.6%)	546 (79.7%)	67 (9.8%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.7%)	5 (0.7%)	$19,142			$2,307			$16,835	29.8	29.4	1838	3		060813012670
1836	Fedde (Pharis F.) Middle	Public	7-8	21409 South Elaine Ave.	Hawaiian Gardens	90716	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7805	291	20	14.8	91.8%	5 (1.7%)	13 (4.5%)	242 (83.2%)	7 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)	21 (7.2%)	$22,788			$2,284			$20,504	29.8	34.9	1632	204		060162000020
1837	Innovations Academy of Palmdale	Public, Virtual	K-8	37230 37th St. East	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 236-0161	409	15	28	87.3%	33 (8.1%)	76 (18.6%)	271 (66.3%)	3 (0.7%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.9%)	$17,913			$2,136			$15,777	29.8	11.7	2603	766		062958013949
1838	Lindbergh STEM Academy	Public	6-8	1022 East Market St.	Long Beach	90805	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 422-2845	421	22	18.9	91.2%	9 (2.1%)	84 (20.0%)	278 (66.0%)	26 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	18 (4.3%)	$25,210			$5,171			$20,039	29.7	29	1860	22		062250002736
1839	Di Giorgio Elementary	Public	K-8	19405 Buena Vista Blvd.	Arvin	93203	Kern County	Di Giorgio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 854-2604	231	10	23.1	99.6%	7 (3.0%)	1 (0.4%)	223 (96.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$33,051			$5,363			$27,688	29.7	29.1	1855	16		061113001236
1840	Blue Oak Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	450 West East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Blue Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 879-7483	219	11	20.8	66.2%	114 (52.1%)	3 (1.4%)	59 (26.9%)	6 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (16.0%)	$20,099			$1,175			$18,924	29.7	33.4	1692	148		060217708682
1841	Guerneville Elementary (Charter)	Public, Charter	K-8	14630 Armstrong Woods Rd.	Guerneville	95446	Sonoma County	Guerneville Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 869-2864	171	10	17	80.7%	92 (53.8%)	2 (1.2%)	60 (35.1%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (8.2%)	$30,758			$1,774			$28,984	29.7	42.9	1376	465		061632002031

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.