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
451	McPherson Magnet	Public	K-8	333 South Prospect St.	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6384	863	34	25.7	42.1%	218 (25.3%)	7 (0.8%)	460 (53.3%)	103 (11.9%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	70 (8.1%)	$15,597			$1,182			$14,415	81.6	84.2	392	59		062865007195
452	Newcastle Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	8951 Valley View Dr.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Newcastle Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 663-3307	333	12	28.6	18.3%	241 (72.4%)	2 (0.6%)	51 (15.3%)	5 (1.5%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (9.3%)	$11,656			$00			$11,656	81.6	89.6	288	164		062712011001
453	Jackson Academy of Music and Math (JAMM)	Public	K-8	2700 Fountain Oaks Dr.	Morgan Hill	95037	Santa Clara County	Morgan Hill Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 201-6400	690	25	27.2	25.9%	238 (34.5%)	11 (1.6%)	283 (41.0%)	65 (9.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (13.3%)	$15,978			$539			$15,439	81.6	83.7	406	47		062583003876
454	Sunridge Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	7285 Hayden Ave.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Twin Hills Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 824-2844	256	10	25.6	32.4%	194 (75.8%)	1 (0.4%)	35 (13.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (9.0%)	$16,205			$178			$16,027	81.3	85.8	371	83		064023010687
455	Las Flores Home Education Independent Study Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	10039 East Palm St.	Bellflower	90706	Los Angeles County	Bellflower Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(562) 804-6565	280	13	21.9	71.1%	25 (8.9%)	26 (9.3%)	190 (67.9%)	15 (5.4%)	3 (1.1%)	3 (1.1%)	18 (6.4%)	$20,544			$2,216			$18,328	81.3	65.7	775	320		060444013706
456	Garvey (Richard) Intermediate	Public	7-8	2720 North Jackson Ave.	Rosemead	91770	Los Angeles County	Garvey Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 307-3385	661	29	22.5	78.1%	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	227 (34.3%)	413 (62.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (1.8%)	$20,932			$2,398			$18,534	81.3	87.6	331	125		061494001901
457	Tincher Preparatory	Public	K-8	1701 Petaluma Ave.	Long Beach	90815	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 493-2636	837	36	23.3	33.0%	233 (27.8%)	51 (6.1%)	324 (38.7%)	127 (15.2%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.7%)	94 (11.2%)	$18,779			$3,494			$15,285	81.1	85.9	370	87		062250002762
458	James L. Day Middle	Public	6-8	40775 Camino Campos Verdes	Temecula	92591	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 699-8138	932	41	22.9	42.0%	314 (33.7%)	35 (3.8%)	350 (37.6%)	120 (12.9%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	107 (11.5%)	$15,527			$1,578			$13,949	81	78.8	512	54		060002808272
459	Green Valley Middle	Public	6-8	1350 Gold Hill Rd.	Fairfield	94534	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 646-7000	903	39	23	32.0%	183 (20.3%)	78 (8.6%)	225 (24.9%)	274 (30.3%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.6%)	135 (15.0%)	$14,619			$1,275			$13,344	80.9	75	589	130		061336001522
460	Claremont Middle	Public	6-8	5750 College Ave.	Oakland	94618	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2201	487	28	17.1	55.9%	137 (28.1%)	127 (26.1%)	81 (16.6%)	32 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	107 (22.0%)	$24,906			$3,714			$21,192	80.9	78.1	524	64		062805004250

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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:

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