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
191	Alta Sierra Intermediate	Public	7-8	380 West Teague Ave.	Clovis	93619	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-3500	1,374	61	22.6	39.4%	527 (38.4%)	33 (2.4%)	530 (38.6%)	183 (13.3%)	6 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	91 (6.6%)	$13,083			$780			$12,303	93.6	93.3	203	12		060903010202
192	Pacific Collegiate Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	3004 Mission St.	Santa Cruz	95060	Santa Cruz County	Pacific Collegiate Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 479-7785	536	31	17.5	9.7%	331 (61.8%)	2 (0.4%)	86 (16.0%)	37 (6.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	77 (14.4%)								93.6	95.6	132	60		060254208363
193	Olympus Junior High	Public	7-8	2625 La Croix Dr.	Roseville	95661	Placer County	Eureka Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 782-1667	439	20	22.2	19.1%	234 (53.3%)	8 (1.8%)	66 (15.0%)	73 (16.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	56 (12.8%)	$15,504			$951			$14,553	93.5	95.1	152	41		061308006167
194	Bernice Ayer Middle	Public	6-8	1271 Sarmentoso	San Clemente	92673	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 366-9607	919	41	22.4	39.4%	541 (58.9%)	0 (0.0%)	277 (30.1%)	16 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	84 (9.1%)	$18,656			$1,297			$17,359	93.5	91.2	251	57		060744007587
195	Richard Henry Dana Middle	Public	6-8	1401 South First Ave.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-8361	710	29	24.8	29.4%	45 (6.3%)	3 (0.4%)	116 (16.3%)	506 (71.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (5.6%)	$16,226			$1,863			$14,363	93.3	94.1	183	12		060297000227
196	The New School of San Francisco	Public, Charter	K-8	940 Filbert St	San Francisco	94133	San Francisco County	The New School of San Francisco District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 401-8489	457	23	19.8	35.0%	129 (28.2%)	35 (7.7%)	170 (37.2%)	64 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	55 (12.0%)	$20,447			$301			$20,146	93.2	94.2	179	17		060243913939
197	Don Juan Avila Middle	Public	6-8	26278 Wood Canyon Dr.	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 362-0348	863	36	24.1	29.7%	394 (45.7%)	14 (1.6%)	195 (22.6%)	171 (19.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	88 (10.2%)	$18,500			$1,379			$17,121	93.1	96.4	109	88		060744008538
198	Marina Village Middle	Public	6-8	1901 Francisco Dr.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Rescue Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 933-3993	750	35	21.4	12.9%	510 (68.0%)	15 (2.0%)	98 (13.1%)	79 (10.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.1%)	40 (5.3%)	$12,645			$699			$11,946	93.1	94	186	12		063231008948
199	College Connection Academy	Public	7-8	1855 Lucretia Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 347-4827	213	10	20.8	65.3%	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.5%)	69 (32.4%)	137 (64.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$27,080			$3,560			$23,520	93.1	88.3	312	113		061437013199
200	Solis Park	Public	K-8	101 Abacus	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 404-1500	972	38	25.8	15.2%	134 (13.8%)	22 (2.3%)	85 (8.7%)	669 (68.8%)	6 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	53 (5.5%)	$13,554			$522			$13,032	93	93.3	202	2		068450014608

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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