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
161	Los Cerros Middle	Public	6-8	968 Blemer Rd.	Danville	94526	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 855-6800	486	24	19.9	5.1%	295 (60.7%)	4 (0.8%)	40 (8.2%)	91 (18.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (10.9%)	$18,447			$494			$17,953	94.7	91.2	249	88		063513005950
162	KIPP Summit Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	2005 Via Barrett	San Lorenzo	94580	Alameda County	KIPP Summit Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 258-0106	427	21	20.6	75.6%	9 (2.1%)	13 (3.0%)	159 (37.2%)	240 (56.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	$34,294			$1,200			$33,094	94.7	93.2	206	44		060245711159
163	Santa Rosa Technology Magnet	Public	K-8	13282 Santa Rosa Rd.	Camarillo	93012	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5355	450	20	22.9	19.6%	228 (50.7%)	12 (2.7%)	105 (23.3%)	60 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (10.0%)	$14,555			$1,162			$13,393	94.7	94	188	25		063099004806
164	Albany Middle	Public	6-8	1259 Brighton Ave.	Albany	94706	Alameda County	Albany City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 558-3600	911	47	19.5	30.7%	203 (22.3%)	41 (4.5%)	164 (18.0%)	304 (33.4%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	191 (21.0%)	$19,274			$447			$18,827	94.7	95.2	143	21		060186000060
165	Edison Elementary	Public	K-8	515 East Sixth St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 984-5618	736	28	25.9	72.8%	78 (10.6%)	9 (1.2%)	562 (76.4%)	60 (8.2%)	4 (0.5%)	6 (0.8%)	17 (2.3%)	$20,083			$3,203			$16,880	94.7	91.8	233	68		062847004395
166	Bowditch Middle	Public	6-8	1450 Tarpon St.	Foster City	94404	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7680	929	44	21.2	19.4%	154 (16.6%)	11 (1.2%)	144 (15.5%)	500 (53.8%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	111 (11.9%)	$19,402			$1,721			$17,681	94.6	96.1	124	42		063492005902
167	Bay Farm	Public	K-8	200 Aughinbaugh Way	Alameda	94502	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4010	531	23	23.3	18.5%	126 (23.7%)	10 (1.9%)	62 (11.7%)	204 (38.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	128 (24.1%)	$18,364			$1,452			$16,912	94.6	94.1	180	13		060177000006
168	Fred Newhart Middle	Public	6-8	25001 Veterans Way	Mission Viejo	92692	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 855-0162	1,105	51	21.6	33.6%	466 (42.2%)	16 (1.4%)	295 (26.7%)	150 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	174 (15.7%)	$19,113			$1,344			$17,769	94.5	94.6	167	1		060744007270
169	C. T. English Middle	Public	6-8	23800 Summit Rd.	Los Gatos	95033	Santa Cruz County	Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 353-1123	164	9	17.2	11.0%	116 (70.7%)	1 (0.6%)	19 (11.6%)	12 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (9.8%)	$19,760			$743			$19,017	94.5	93.7	192	23		062235002672
170	Easterbrook Discovery	Public	K-8	4835 Doyle Rd.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Moreland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 874-3500	952	43	22.2	22.2%	180 (18.9%)	20 (2.1%)	193 (20.3%)	464 (48.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	88 (9.2%)	$7,661			$1,394			$6,267	94.5	97.3	79	91		062577003854

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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