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
891	John Adams Academy - Lincoln	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1797 Bella Breeze Dr.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	John Adams Academy - Lincoln District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 209-5540	1,392	64	21.8	23.6%	861 (61.9%)	17 (1.2%)	336 (24.1%)	84 (6.0%)	2 (0.1%)	11 (0.8%)	81 (5.8%)	$15,440			$392			$15,048	60.6	59.9	887	4		060198614071
892	Hart-Ransom Elementary	Public	K-8	3930 Shoemake Ave.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Hart-Ransom Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 523-9979	705	33	21.5	43.4%	238 (33.8%)	5 (0.7%)	398 (56.5%)	22 (3.1%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.6%)	35 (5.0%)								60.6	57.5	949	57		061665002092
893	Norco Intermediate	Public	7-8	2711 Temescal Ave.	Norco	92860	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 736-3206	726	31	23.4	67.5%	296 (40.8%)	13 (1.8%)	355 (48.9%)	23 (3.2%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (4.8%)	$16,148			$764			$15,384	60.5	41	1427	534		060985001060
894	Horizon Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	873 First St.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	Horizon Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 408-5200	1,757	67	26.3	55.5%	915 (52.1%)	105 (6.0%)	405 (23.1%)	82 (4.7%)	4 (0.2%)	13 (0.7%)	228 (13.0%)	$11,551			$253			$11,298	60.5	40.7	1439	545		060173003557
895	Northern United - Siskiyou Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	423 South Broadway	Yreka	96097	Siskiyou County	Northern United - Siskiyou Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 842-4509	136	8	16.7	87.5%	80 (58.8%)	1 (0.7%)	17 (12.5%)	1 (0.7%)	7 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (19.1%)	$20,077			$1,055			$19,022	60.5	39.2	1499	604		060160614256
896	Cajon Valley Home	Public, Virtual	K-8	2962 Jamul Dr.	El Cajon	92019	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 588-3128	117	7	17.2	71.8%	33 (28.2%)	4 (3.4%)	67 (57.3%)	6 (5.1%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.1%)	$20,173			$2,862			$17,311	60.5	53.5	1056	160		060681008590
897	Almond Tree Middle	Public	6-8	200 West 15th Ave.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-3641	554	29	19.3	91.7%	4 (0.7%)	4 (0.7%)	485 (87.5%)	58 (10.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	$18,765			$3,022			$15,743	60.4	59.9	886	11		061089007504
898	Magnolia Intermediate	Public	6-8	22431 Kingston Ln.	Grass Valley	95949	Nevada County	Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 268-2815	410	19	21.6	32.2%	280 (68.3%)	1 (0.2%)	66 (16.1%)	5 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (13.9%)	$13,571			$1,077			$12,494	60.4	60.4	878	20		063093004792
899	Aspire Benjamin Holt Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	3293 East Morada Ln.	Stockton	95212	San Joaquin County	Aspire Benjamin Holt Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 437-9899	573	20	28.7	68.6%	35 (6.1%)	34 (5.9%)	273 (47.6%)	167 (29.1%)	3 (0.5%)	5 (0.9%)	55 (9.6%)	$12,261			$2,403			$9,858	60.4	55.4	1005	106		060206913963
900	iLEAD Hybrid	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3720 Sierra Hwy. Ste. A	Acton	93510	Los Angeles County	iLEAD Hybrid District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 434-1755	3,817	172	22.2	44.4%	1,311 (34.3%)	274 (7.2%)	1,528 (40.0%)	249 (6.5%)	13 (0.3%)	14 (0.4%)	418 (11.0%)	$12,939			$973			$11,966	60.3	58.4	920	20		060248213859

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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