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
1422	California Online Public Schools Northern California	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	580 North Wilma Ave. Ste. G	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	California Online Public Schools Northern California Distri	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(800) 906-5166	1,507	67	22.6	51.0%	483 (32.1%)	167 (11.1%)	413 (27.4%)	143 (9.5%)	11 (0.7%)	7 (0.5%)	268 (17.8%)	$13,692			$568			$13,124	42.3	34.3	1657	235		060238813152
1423	Don Julian Elementary	Public	K-8	13855 Don Julian Rd.	La Puente	91746	Los Angeles County	Bassett Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 931-2900	544	23	23.5	92.5%	8 (1.5%)	7 (1.3%)	492 (90.4%)	34 (6.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$22,588			$4,491			$18,097	42.2	44.7	1322	101		060411007263
1424	Cave Language Academy	Public	K-8	770 Tregaskis Ave.	Vallejo	94591	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8410	505	20	25.5	66.1%	32 (6.3%)	29 (5.7%)	413 (81.8%)	16 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.0%)	$20,107			$2,693			$17,414	42.2	51.8	1116	308		064074006722
1425	Making Waves Academy	Public, Charter	5-12	4123 Lakeside Dr.	Richmond	94806	Contra Costa County	Making Waves Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 262-1511	1,078	56	19.1	79.9%	15 (1.4%)	73 (6.8%)	944 (87.6%)	42 (3.9%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$24,148			$1,167			$22,981	42.2	52.9	1074	351		060150212043
1426	KIPP Corazon Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	8616 Long Beach Blvd.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	KIPP Corazon Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 457-5051	1,070	44	24.3	87.4%	5 (0.5%)	6 (0.6%)	1,041 (97.3%)	9 (0.8%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	$20,393			$1,774			$18,619	42.2	41	1428	2		060192014108
1427	Summerville Elementary	Public	K-8	18451 Carter St.	Tuolumne	95379	Tuolumne County	Summerville Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 928-4291	457	23	19.8	45.1%	292 (63.9%)	1 (0.2%)	75 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (9.2%)	$13,126			$4,217			$8,909	42.1	47.5	1233	194		063825006451
1428	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. R	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	1,032	46	22.6	53.2%	266 (25.8%)	68 (6.6%)	583 (56.5%)	40 (3.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (6.8%)	$14,138			$1,169			$12,969	42.1	37.4	1550	122		060179014045
1429	Kepler Neighborhood	Public, Charter	K-8	1462 Broadway St.	Fresno	93721	Fresno County	Kepler Neighborhood District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 495-0849	301	21	14	70.4%	45 (15.0%)	35 (11.6%)	188 (62.5%)	11 (3.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (6.6%)	$23,149			$1,885			$21,264	42.1	37.2	1558	129		060186213508
1430	James Workman Middle	Public	6-8	69-300 30th Ave.	Cathedral City	92234	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 770-8540	1,020	47	21.8	97.8%	72 (7.1%)	16 (1.6%)	849 (83.2%)	45 (4.4%)	8 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	28 (2.7%)	$21,270			$1,735			$19,535	42	38.8	1514	84		062955004981
1431	South Gate Middle	Public	6-8	4100 Firestone Blvd.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 568-4000	1,192	60	19.8	93.4%	29 (2.4%)	2 (0.2%)	1,154 (96.8%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	$21,792			$4,140			$17,652	42	37.2	1559	128		062271003363

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.