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
1652	Jamestown Elementary	Public	K-8	18299 Fifth Ave.	Jamestown	95327	Tuolumne County	Jamestown Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 984-4058	409	20	20.4	71.6%	264 (64.5%)	3 (0.7%)	111 (27.1%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (4.9%)	$21,393			$2,725			$18,668	34.9	30.2	1804	152		061869002272
1653	Magnolia Junior High	Public	7-8	13150 Mountain Ave.	Chino	91710	San Bernardino County	Chino Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 627-9263	541	28	19	83.4%	41 (7.6%)	15 (2.8%)	429 (79.3%)	39 (7.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.6%)								34.9	40.1	1459	194		060846000843
1654	Taft Middle	Public	6-8	9191 Gramercy Dr.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 935-2650	410	20	20.6	65.6%	63 (15.4%)	63 (15.4%)	171 (41.7%)	47 (11.5%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	60 (14.6%)	$21,248			$3,361			$17,887	34.8	46.8	1256	398		063432005558
1655	Vista Verde Middle	Public	6-8	25777 Krameria St.	Moreno Valley	92551	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 490-4690	900	39	22.8	82.8%	36 (4.0%)	199 (22.1%)	580 (64.4%)	43 (4.8%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.7%)	35 (3.9%)	$20,034			$993			$19,041	34.8	31.5	1751	96		069113501028
1656	Achieve Charter School of Chico	Public, Charter	K-8	1494 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Achieve Charter School of Chico District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 872-4100	222	8	27	37.8%	150 (67.6%)	6 (2.7%)	38 (17.1%)	5 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (10.4%)	$15,078			$2,531			$12,547	34.8	44.3	1329	327		060257014596
1657	KIPP Scholar Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	6100 S. Hoover St	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	KIPP Scholar Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 292-2272	434	19	22.9	83.6%	2 (0.5%)	173 (39.9%)	246 (56.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	$25,528			$1,731			$23,797	34.6	34.5	1651	6		060215413004
1658	Central Middle	Public	7-8	4795 Magnolia Ave.	Riverside	92506	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7282	621	29	21.1	83.3%	77 (12.4%)	43 (6.9%)	474 (76.3%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.3%)	$19,743			$1,297			$18,446	34.6	33.8	1678	20		063315005134
1659	Hillside Innovation Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	29955 Watson Rd.	Menifee	92585	Riverside County	Romoland Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 926-9244	155	10	15.5	81.9%	0 (0.0%)	15 (9.7%)	116 (74.8%)	10 (6.5%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	11 (7.1%)	$17,265			$1,407			$15,858	34.6	18.4	2322	663		063339014640
1660	Young Oak Kim Academy	Public	6-8	615 South Shatto Pl.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 739-6500	715	36	19.9	98.6%	14 (2.0%)	8 (1.1%)	678 (94.8%)	11 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	$19,239			$4,181			$15,058	34.5	30.2	1803	143		062271012440
1661	Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	2000 California St.	Oceanside	92054	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-8900	621	30	20.6	72.3%	176 (28.3%)	12 (1.9%)	377 (60.7%)	12 (1.9%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	38 (6.1%)	$9,295			$930			$8,365	34.5	35.8	1596	65		062825004364

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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