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
481	Tetzlaff (Martin B.) Middle	Public	7-8	12351 East Del Amo Blvd.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7795	542	23	23.1	53.5%	39 (7.2%)	56 (10.3%)	230 (42.4%)	174 (32.1%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.5%)	34 (6.3%)	$19,739			$1,988			$17,751	79.6	88.2	316	165		060162000027
482	Phoenix Charter Academy College View	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	145 Shasta View Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Phoenix Charter Academy College View District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 222-9280	287	15	18.5	55.4%	207 (72.1%)	1 (0.3%)	45 (15.7%)	8 (2.8%)	9 (3.1%)	1 (0.3%)	16 (5.6%)	$16,217			$597			$15,620	79.5	58.3	923	441		060257814625
483	Intellectual Virtues Academy of Long Beach	Public, Charter	6-8	3601 Linden Ave.	Long Beach	90807	Los Angeles County	Intellectual Virtues Academy of Long Beach District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 912-7017	244	11	22	45.1%	51 (20.9%)	38 (15.6%)	104 (42.6%)	15 (6.1%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (13.5%)	$13,243			$863			$12,380	79.5	81	459	24		060220013471
484	New West Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	1905 Armacost Ave.	Los Angeles	90025	Los Angeles County	New West Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 943-5444	980	53	18.4	18.5%	515 (52.6%)	44 (4.5%)	218 (22.2%)	92 (9.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	108 (11.0%)	$15,216			$699			$14,517	79.4	79.6	483	1		060184411208
485	James Irvine Intermediate	Public	7-8	10552 Hazard Ave.	Garden Grove	92843	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6551	532	24	22.5	88.3%	16 (3.0%)	3 (0.6%)	294 (55.3%)	210 (39.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (0.9%)	$24,477			$4,035			$20,442	79.3	83.2	413	72		061488001852
486	Hollister Prep	Public, Charter	K-8	881 Line St.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 313-0772	538	19	28.1	47.2%	45 (8.4%)	3 (0.6%)	466 (86.6%)	18 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	$15,786			$826			$14,960	79.3	89	301	185		060232013525
487	Robert C. Cooley Middle	Public	6-8	9300 Prairie Woods Way	Roseville	95747	Placer County	Roseville City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 771-1740	1,149	48	23.9	35.8%	524 (45.6%)	47 (4.1%)	231 (20.1%)	219 (19.1%)	7 (0.6%)	10 (0.9%)	111 (9.7%)	$13,101			$598			$12,503	79.3	82.4	431	56		063360008551
488	Vineyard Junior High	Public	6-8	6440 Mayberry	Alta Loma	91737	San Bernardino County	Alta Loma Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 484-5120	933	37	25.4	41.3%	229 (24.5%)	36 (3.9%)	459 (49.2%)	145 (15.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	62 (6.6%)	$15,975			$1,200			$14,775	79.3	85.7	373	115		060216009697
489	Aptos Middle	Public	6-8	105 Aptos Ave.	San Francisco	94127	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4520	911	44	20.7	58.7%	110 (12.1%)	58 (6.4%)	223 (24.5%)	406 (44.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	113 (12.4%)	$20,478			$1,473			$19,005	79.2	80.6	466	23		063441005585
490	La Mesa Arts Academy	Public	5-8	4200 Parks Ave.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5730	1,059	51	20.7	46.4%	410 (38.7%)	60 (5.7%)	407 (38.4%)	65 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	112 (10.6%)	$18,556			$1,513			$17,043	79.2	88.3	313	177		062025002432

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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