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
961	Quantum Academy	Public	4-8	420 North Falconer Rd.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2220	289	13	22	54.3%	76 (26.3%)	9 (3.1%)	163 (56.4%)	10 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (10.4%)								57.7	70	686	275		061288013863
962	Laurel Elementary	Public	K-8	925 North Hayworth Ave.	Los Angeles	90046	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 654-1930	262	17	15.5	87.8%	92 (35.1%)	18 (6.9%)	111 (42.4%)	17 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	23 (8.8%)	$36,889			$6,591			$30,298	57.6	52.8	1078	116		062271003127
963	Emery Park Elementary	Public	K-8	2821 West Commonwealth Ave.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3340	383	19	19.7	50.7%	19 (5.0%)	1 (0.3%)	285 (74.4%)	61 (15.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.4%)	$14,939			$1,440			$13,499	57.6	71.8	657	306		060015310935
964	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-8	14431 Stanford Ave.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6320	331	14	22.8	90.3%	2 (0.6%)	94 (28.4%)	230 (69.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	3 (0.9%)	$23,485			$4,420			$19,065	57.6	41.2	1421	457		060962000991
965	Wangenheim Middle	Public	6-8	9230 Gold Coast Dr.	San Diego	92126	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-2250	703	29	24.5	67.6%	72 (10.2%)	46 (6.5%)	248 (35.3%)	255 (36.3%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	77 (11.0%)	$18,820			$2,507			$16,313	57.5	60.6	872	93		063432005566
966	Patricia Kay Beaver Elementary	Public	K-8	4927 Central Ave.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1500	503	22	22.9	69.8%	112 (22.3%)	4 (0.8%)	368 (73.2%)	11 (2.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.2%)	$17,977			$2,162			$15,815	57.5	39.9	1465	499		060813013777
967	Santiago Charter Middle	Public, Charter	7-8	515 North Rancho Santiago Blvd	Orange	92869	Orange County	Santiago Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6366	1,137	46	24.7	65.9%	216 (19.0%)	32 (2.8%)	745 (65.5%)	63 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (0.9%)	71 (6.2%)	$12,560			$661			$11,899	57.4	57.4	951	16		060189404450
968	Pacific Union Elementary	Public	K-8	2065 East Bowles Ave.	Fresno	93725	Fresno County	Pacific Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 834-2533	328	19	17.2	89.9%	38 (11.6%)	1 (0.3%)	286 (87.2%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,345			$783			$14,562	57.4	51.1	1137	169		062940004532
969	Riverbank Language Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2400 Stanislaus St.	Riverbank	95367	Stanislaus County	Riverbank Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 869-8093	557	22	25	72.7%	24 (4.3%)	3 (0.5%)	516 (92.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.2%)	$17,669			$1,566			$16,103	57.4	49.4	1187	218		060006111925
970	Stonecreek Junior High	Public	7-8	8000 Akers Rd.	Bakersfield	93313	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 834-4521	986	52	18.9	81.8%	67 (6.8%)	62 (6.3%)	665 (67.4%)	141 (14.3%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	45 (4.6%)	$17,075			$2,124			$14,951	57.4	49.5	1185	215		060639011597

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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:

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

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

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