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
171	Yorba Linda Middle	Public	6-8	4777 Casa Loma Ave.	Yorba Linda	92886	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7080	818	37	22.3	34.1%	305 (37.3%)	9 (1.1%)	232 (28.4%)	225 (27.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (5.6%)	$16,784			$1,036			$15,748	94.4	93.1	207	36		063066009615
172	Colonel Joseph C. Rodriguez PREP Academy	Public	6-8	1985 North Guthrie St.	San Bernardino	92404	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 884-6030	640	29	22.3	89.2%	30 (4.7%)	27 (4.2%)	544 (85.0%)	20 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	16 (2.5%)	$24,071			$4,602			$19,469	94.4	90.7	265	93		063417012143
173	Diegueno Middle	Public	7-8	2150 Village Park Way	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 944-1892	737	31	24.1	16.0%	494 (67.0%)	0 (0.0%)	149 (20.2%)	23 (3.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (9.2%)	$15,425			$610			$14,815	94.4	87.7	330	157		063438008186
174	Esencia Middle	Public	6-8	5 Aprender St.	Rancho Mission Viejo	92694	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-9900	349	16	21.6	22.3%	192 (55.0%)	5 (1.4%)	56 (16.0%)	56 (16.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	37 (10.6%)	$22,183			$1,409			$20,774	94.4	96.9	94	80		060744014392
175	Burlingame Intermediate	Public	6-8	1715 Quesada Way	Burlingame	94010	San Mateo County	Burlingame Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 259-3830	1,115	52	21.4	25.1%	384 (34.4%)	4 (0.4%)	228 (20.4%)	328 (29.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	168 (15.1%)	$14,647			$815			$13,832	94.2	95.5	136	39		060648000581
176	San Carlos Charter Learning Center	Public, Charter	K-8	750 Dartmouth Ave.	San Carlos	94070	San Mateo County	San Carlos Charter Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 508-7343	377	20	18.6	4.0%	175 (46.4%)	3 (0.8%)	46 (12.2%)	101 (26.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	51 (13.5%)	$16,319			$208			$16,111	94.2	97.1	87	89		060184204029
177	Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary	Public	K-8	110 Marine Dr.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4050	820	36	22.5	55.2%	363 (44.3%)	71 (8.7%)	280 (34.1%)	11 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	92 (11.2%)	$19,472			$1,461			$18,011	94.1	91.7	238	61		061350001543
178	Brightwood Elementary	Public	K-8	1701 Brightwood St.	Monterey Park	91754	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3360	804	33	24.2	31.3%	11 (1.4%)	7 (0.9%)	295 (36.7%)	444 (55.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	45 (5.6%)	$12,435			$931			$11,504	94	93.5	197	19		060015310934
179	Giannini (A.P.) Middle	Public	6-8	3151 Ortega St.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2770	1,183	50	23.5	39.6%	210 (17.8%)	33 (2.8%)	141 (11.9%)	601 (50.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.4%)	193 (16.3%)	$21,480			$1,851			$19,629	94	94.5	170	9		063441005580
180	Folsom Middle	Public	6-8	500 Blue Ravine Rd.	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9040	1,508	57	26.3	12.5%	587 (38.9%)	21 (1.4%)	196 (13.0%)	550 (36.5%)	4 (0.3%)	3 (0.2%)	146 (9.7%)	$18,834			$1,062			$17,772	94	94.7	165	15		061389001571

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

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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.