Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
2402	Richgrove Elementary	Public	K-8	20812 Grove Dr.	Richgrove	93261	Tulare County	Richgrove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 725-2424	477	26	18.2	95.8%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	470 (98.5%)	6 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								15.9	17.7	2360	42		063243011376
2403	Colton Middle	Public	7-8	670 West Laurel St.	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5009	870	40	21.9	92.8%	16 (1.8%)	16 (1.8%)	830 (95.4%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$23,488			$4,835			$18,653	15.8	19.2	2291	112		060939000947
2404	MIT Griffin Academy Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	233 Hobbs Ave.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	MIT Griffin Academy Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 552-6482	111	4	27.4	77.5%	8 (7.2%)	20 (18.0%)	55 (49.5%)	12 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	13 (11.7%)	$36,708			$6,226			$30,482	15.8	31	1772	632		060187514264
2405	Stratford Elementary	Public	K-8	20227 1st St.	Stratford	93266	Kings County	Central Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 925-2605	294	12	24.5	76.9%	15 (5.1%)	4 (1.4%)	251 (85.4%)	4 (1.4%)	12 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.7%)	$42,875			$3,311			$39,564	15.8	18.7	2313	92		060798000768
2406	Quail Valley Middle	Public	6-8	10058 Arrowhead Rd.	Phelan	92371	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 868-2623	870	42	20.8	80.5%	101 (11.6%)	93 (10.7%)	594 (68.3%)	11 (1.3%)	6 (0.7%)	7 (0.8%)	58 (6.7%)	$16,733			$2,605			$14,128	15.7	24.3	2068	338		063697005084
2407	Sierra@Home	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	33461 Lodge Rd.	Tollhouse	93667	Fresno County	Sierra Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 855-3020	81	4	18	56.8%	34 (42.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (30.9%)	1 (1.2%)	15 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.2%)	$16,925			$1,924			$15,001	15.7			(n/a)		063680503059
2408	Yosemite Middle	Public	7-8	1292 North Ninth St.	Fresno	93703	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3450	613	33	18.6	94.5%	11 (1.8%)	25 (4.1%)	519 (84.7%)	48 (7.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.3%)	$20,408			$3,232			$17,176	15.6	16.2	2429	21		061455001783
2409	Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Academy	Public	6-8	38060 20th St. East	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 537-6101	747	38	19.4	90.2%	25 (3.3%)	130 (17.4%)	562 (75.2%)	5 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	18 (2.4%)	$20,069			$2,748			$17,321	15.6	10.9	2639	230		062958014085
2410	Paso Robles Independent Study Center	Public	K-8	2405 Spring St.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	Paso Robles Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 769-1675	37	2	18.1	45.9%	12 (32.4%)	1 (2.7%)	22 (59.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.4%)	$14,093			$1,315			$12,778	15.6	43.2	1365	1045		060004810395
2411	Pond Elementary	Public	K-8	29585 Pond Rd.	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Pond Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 792-2545	175	10	17.1	96.0%	8 (4.6%)	1 (0.6%)	160 (91.4%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.3%)	$22,628			$4,531			$18,097	15.6	22.4	2155	256		063135004865

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.