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
1502	Lake Don Pedro Elementary	Public	K-8	2411 Hidalgo	La Grange	95329	Mariposa County	Mariposa County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 852-2144	195	9	21.6	81.0%	106 (54.4%)	6 (3.1%)	66 (33.8%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.7%)	$18,467			$2,322			$16,145	39.5	30.6	1788	286		062394008897
1503	Geyserville New Technical Academy	Public	6-12	1300 Moody Ln.	Geyserville	95441	Sonoma County	Geyserville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 857-3592	97	9	10.2	54.6%	23 (23.7%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (72.2%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$24,542			$154			$24,388	39.5	24.4	2065	562		061515013780
1504	Hoover Middle	Public	6-8	3501 Country Club Dr.	Lakewood	90712	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 421-1213	505	23	21.9	64.0%	21 (4.2%)	128 (25.3%)	268 (53.1%)	58 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.0%)	15 (3.0%)	$22,469			$4,594			$17,875	39.5	41	1429	75		062250002724
1505	Smythe Academy of Arts and Sciences	Public, Charter	K-8	2781 Northgate Blvd.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2740	1,091	49	22.1	92.2%	70 (6.4%)	101 (9.3%)	707 (64.8%)	115 (10.5%)	2 (0.2%)	19 (1.7%)	77 (7.1%)	$20,098			$2,764			$17,334	39.5	41.9	1396	109		060133204148
1506	Gateway International	Public, Charter	K-8	900 Morse Ave.	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	Gateway International District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-1985	628	28	22.5	65.6%	458 (72.9%)	34 (5.4%)	70 (11.1%)	27 (4.3%)	3 (0.5%)	8 (1.3%)	28 (4.5%)	$18,000			$960			$17,040	39.4	50	1174	332		060203413656
1507	Abraham Lincoln Middle	Public	7-8	1239 Nelson Blvd.	Selma	93662	Fresno County	Selma Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 898-6600	892	49	18.3	93.5%	28 (3.1%)	4 (0.4%)	825 (92.5%)	28 (3.1%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)								39.4	43.9	1345	162		063627001989
1508	Hawthorne Middle	Public	6-8	4366 West 129th St.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 676-0167	761	32	24	90.4%	13 (1.7%)	82 (10.8%)	610 (80.2%)	29 (3.8%)	8 (1.1%)	6 (0.8%)	13 (1.7%)	$19,982			$3,692			$16,290	39.4	44.8	1321	187		061668002094
1509	Academies of the Antelope Valley	Public, Charter	6-12	6300 West Avenue L	Quartz Hill	93536	Los Angeles County	Antelope Valley Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 943-3031	677	33	20.4	54.1%	88 (13.0%)	74 (10.9%)	457 (67.5%)	19 (2.8%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (5.3%)	$18,292			$1,591			$16,701	39.3	41.6	1410	99		060282013154
1510	Kennedy Middle	Public	7-8	900 North Sixth St.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-0444	434	25	17	90.6%	4 (0.9%)	3 (0.7%)	422 (97.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$19,527			$1,705			$17,822	39.3	42.3	1388	122		061203001336
1511	Method Schools LA	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27232 Via Industria	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Method Schools LA District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 461-4620	227	16	14	50.7%	89 (39.2%)	27 (11.9%)	87 (38.3%)	10 (4.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.4%)	$29,042			$966			$28,076	39.2	35.1	1619	108		060215014259

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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