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
2252	Madison Elementary	Public	K-8	2939 Mission Rd.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7240	703	29	24.1	79.5%	52 (7.4%)	76 (10.8%)	464 (66.0%)	51 (7.3%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	46 (6.5%)	$19,944			$3,095			$16,849	19.4	14.4	2495	243		063801006422
2253	North Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	1202 East Seventh St.	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 487-7797	953	49	19.2	91.4%	48 (5.0%)	87 (9.1%)	753 (79.0%)	5 (0.5%)	23 (2.4%)	6 (0.6%)	28 (2.9%)	$11,877			$397			$11,480	19.3	18.6	2315	62		063444007603
2254	Pauma Elementary	Public	K-8	33158 Cole Grade Rd.	Pauma Valley	92061	San Diego County	Valley Center-Pauma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 742-3741	245	11	22.2	76.7%	10 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	190 (77.6%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (17.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	$17,357			$1,604			$15,753	19.3	18.1	2342	88		060006908610
2255	Tehama eLearning Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	7-12	979 Douglass St.	Red Bluff	96080	Tehama County	Tehama eLearning Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 527-0188	128	7	19.4	82.0%	70 (54.7%)	1 (0.8%)	33 (25.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (15.6%)	$12,918			$1,095			$11,823	19.3	9.8	2672	417		060254410699
2256	North Park Academy of the Arts	Public	6-8	4450 South Durfee Ave.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7570	512	23	22.2	87.5%	6 (1.2%)	3 (0.6%)	492 (96.1%)	10 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,718			$1,140			$18,578	19.3	24.4	2063	193		061218001376
2257	Audeo Valley Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	27130 Eucalyptus Ave. Ste. A	Moreno Valley	92555	Riverside County	Audeo Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 242-6646	238	7	34.8	76.5%	32 (13.4%)	31 (13.0%)	154 (64.7%)	7 (2.9%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	10 (4.2%)	$13,637			$1,951			$11,686	19.3	17.7	2358	101		060256014578
2258	Fremont Academy of Engineering and Design	Public	7-12	725 West Franklin Ave.	Pomona	91766	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4521	597	32	18.6	93.1%	4 (0.7%)	6 (1.0%)	560 (93.8%)	21 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	$22,717			$3,171			$19,546	19.3	20.6	2239	19		063132004840
2259	Imperial Beach Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	650 Imperial Beach Blvd.	Imperial Beach	91932	San Diego County	South Bay Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 628-5600	724	29	24.9	62.8%	122 (16.9%)	13 (1.8%)	512 (70.7%)	22 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	50 (6.9%)	$23,625			$2,049			$21,576	19.3	27.5	1923	336		063738006320
2260	El Mirage	Public	K-8	19250 St. Anthony Ave.	Adelanto	92301	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 530-7676	128	6	21	78.1%	12 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	107 (83.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (6.3%)	$24,271			$1,141			$23,130	19.3	10.2	2660	400		060171013193
2261	Venture Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2829 Transworld Dr.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Venture Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 468-5940	1,657	79	21	66.8%	189 (11.4%)	101 (6.1%)	1,201 (72.5%)	87 (5.3%)	2 (0.1%)	7 (0.4%)	70 (4.2%)								19.2	28.5	1878	383		060196310651

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.