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
871	Golden Valley Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3585 Maple St. Ste. 101	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Golden Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 642-3435	574	19	30.2	35.5%	285 (49.7%)	5 (0.9%)	192 (33.4%)	24 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (11.8%)	$12,832			$251			$12,581	61.3	72.5	641	230		060201210451
872	California Montessori Project-San Juan Campuses	Public, Charter	K-8	5330A Gibbons Dr. Ste. 700	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	California Montessori Project-San Juan Campuses District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-2432	1,545	60	25.9	32.1%	890 (57.6%)	28 (1.8%)	329 (21.3%)	53 (3.4%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	239 (15.5%)	$13,921			$998			$12,923	61.3	72	651	221		060165311733
873	Mesa Verde Middle	Public	6-8	14000 Peach Hill Rd.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-6309	574	22	25.5	32.1%	236 (41.1%)	4 (0.7%)	259 (45.1%)	50 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.2%)	$16,081			$1,007			$15,074	61.3	61.5	853	20		062569004325
874	De Anza Magnet	Public	K-8	1530 South Waterman Ave.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-9811	504	21	23.9	68.7%	19 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	479 (95.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$17,505			$1,639			$15,866	61.2	55.8	995	121		061203001332
875	Liberty Middle	Public	7-8	1000 Liberty Dr.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Lemoore Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6860	636	33	19.4	81.3%	94 (14.8%)	16 (2.5%)	458 (72.0%)	29 (4.6%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.8%)	29 (4.6%)	$13,693			$1,259			$12,434	61.2	62.9	821	54		062136003169
876	Hercules Middle	Public	6-8	1900 Refugio Valley Rd.	Hercules	94547	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1429	596	24	24.7	44.3%	45 (7.6%)	88 (14.8%)	155 (26.0%)	234 (39.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	69 (11.6%)	$5,401			$1,595			$3,806	61.2	56.5	978	102		063255010757
877	Fine Arts Academy	Public	4-8	6100 Olmeda Ave.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 460-2500	238	11	20.8	35.3%	162 (68.1%)	4 (1.7%)	47 (19.7%)	9 (3.8%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	11 (4.6%)	$14,344			$405			$13,939	61.2	76.3	562	315		060330008624
878	San Jacinto Leadership Academy - Magnet	Public	6-12	181 North Ramona Blvd	San Jacinto	92583	Riverside County	San Jacinto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 929-1954	748	32	23.1	82.0%	92 (12.3%)	33 (4.4%)	570 (76.2%)	25 (3.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	23 (3.1%)	$11,161			$297			$10,864	61.1	58.8	913	35		063444012794
879	Macy Intermediate	Public	6-8	2101 South Lupine Ave.	Monterey Park	91755	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 722-0260	576	27	21.2	76.0%	14 (2.4%)	5 (0.9%)	474 (82.3%)	79 (13.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$13,327			$917			$12,410	61	59.1	907	28		062547003801
880	Doty (Wendy Lopour) Middle	Public	6-8	10301 South Woodruff Ave.	Downey	90241	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3586	1,304	53	24.6	78.2%	86 (6.6%)	18 (1.4%)	1,152 (88.3%)	32 (2.5%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.3%)	10 (0.8%)	$18,310			$2,962			$15,348	61	57.9	935	55		061146001265

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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