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
2192	Stella Brockman Elementary	Public	K-8	763 Silverado Dr.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7200	833	36	23	67.2%	133 (16.0%)	37 (4.4%)	436 (52.3%)	179 (21.5%)	5 (0.6%)	9 (1.1%)	34 (4.1%)	$16,477			$3,640			$12,837	20.8	26.9	1953	239		062361009916
2193	Parkview Middle	Public	5-8	11075 C St.	Armona	93202	Kings County	Armona Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 583-5020	443	22	20.5	83.3%	35 (7.9%)	21 (4.7%)	365 (82.4%)	11 (2.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.0%)								20.8	21.7	2190	3		060318000244
2194	Downtown College Prep - Alum Rock	Public, Charter	6-12	1776 Educational Park Dr.	San Jose	95133	Santa Clara County	Downtown College Prep - Alum Rock District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 942-7000	202	11	17.9	77.7%	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	187 (92.6%)	13 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$23,405			$1,767			$21,638	20.8	16.2	2430	236		060165612827
2195	Foothill Ranch Middle	Public	7-8	5001 Diablo Dr.	Sacramento	95842	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3440	509	26	19.4	92.9%	99 (19.4%)	63 (12.4%)	184 (36.1%)	103 (20.2%)	3 (0.6%)	4 (0.8%)	52 (10.2%)	$20,962			$3,605			$17,357	20.7	20.4	2248	53		060133201984
2196	Creekside Middle	Public	7-8	535 Peregrine Dr.	Patterson	95363	Stanislaus County	Patterson Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 892-4710	907	45	20.3	79.1%	63 (6.9%)	41 (4.5%)	706 (77.8%)	36 (4.0%)	4 (0.4%)	13 (1.4%)	44 (4.9%)	$17,166			$3,171			$13,995	20.7	20.9	2223	27		063003004704
2197	Crescent Elk Middle	Public	6-8	994 G St.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0320	507	27	19	76.7%	233 (46.0%)	1 (0.2%)	117 (23.1%)	17 (3.4%)	90 (17.8%)	1 (0.2%)	45 (8.9%)	$23,518			$5,256			$18,262	20.7	21.1	2216	19		061077001192
2198	Voices College-Bound Language Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	715 Hellyer Ave.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Voices College-Bound Language Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 361-1960	316	16	19.6	73.4%	9 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	305 (96.5%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,295			$3,021			$17,274	20.6	33	1705	493		060199312031
2199	La Sierra High	Public, Charter	7-12	1735 East Houston Ave.	Visalia	93292	Tulare County	Tulare County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 733-6963	191	11	16.8	62.8%	10 (5.2%)	5 (2.6%)	169 (88.5%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	$123,939			$17,087			$106,852	20.6	10.7	2644	445		069104508660
2200	Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle	Public	6-8	43-495 Palm Royale Dr.	La Quinta	92253	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 238-9710	439	21	20.7	84.1%	80 (18.2%)	13 (3.0%)	305 (69.5%)	18 (4.1%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.3%)	$22,908			$3,615			$19,293	20.5	20.6	2236	36		061111011714
2201	Maxwell Middle	Public	6-8	146 North St.	Maxwell	95955	Colusa County	Maxwell Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 438-2401	90	4	20	68.9%	40 (44.4%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (53.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,585			$2,074			$13,511	20.5	28.3	1889	312		062415013945

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.