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
1542	Vanguard Preparatory	Public	K-8	12951 Mesquite Rd.	Apple Valley	92308	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 961-1066	1,153	48	24.1	67.4%	347 (30.1%)	32 (2.8%)	726 (63.0%)	4 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	38 (3.3%)	$15,404			$1,686			$13,718	38.1	27.5	1924	382		060001711122
1543	George Visual and Performing Arts Magnet and Middle	Public	K-8	10650 Bartlett Ave.	Adelanto	92301	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 246-8231	685	28	24.3	77.8%	23 (3.4%)	53 (7.7%)	573 (83.6%)	4 (0.6%)	4 (0.6%)	2 (0.3%)	26 (3.8%)	$16,559			$822			$15,737	38.1	47.7	1224	319		060171011089
1544	Pittman Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	701 East Park St.	Stockton	95202	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7496	619	26	23.8	85.8%	3 (0.5%)	34 (5.5%)	554 (89.5%)	10 (1.6%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (2.1%)	$16,044			$3,247			$12,797	37.9	45.1	1310	234		063801011780
1545	Lakeside	Public	K-8	14535 Old River Rd.	Bakersfield	93311	Kern County	Lakeside Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 831-3503	892	36	24.6	63.9%	75 (8.4%)	37 (4.1%)	631 (70.7%)	73 (8.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (8.4%)	$11,325			$1,129			$10,196	37.9	36	1590	45		062073002489
1546	Prescott Junior High	Public	7-8	2243 West Rumble Rd.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Stanislaus Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 529-9892	746	36	20.5	74.3%	104 (13.9%)	26 (3.5%)	408 (54.7%)	113 (15.1%)	5 (0.7%)	8 (1.1%)	82 (11.0%)	$18,353			$2,204			$16,149	37.9	36.4	1582	36		063795006396
1547	Citizens of the World Charter School Silver Lake	Public, Charter	K-8	110 North Coronado St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Citizens of the World Charter School Silver Lake District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 462-2840	718	30	24	70.3%	125 (17.4%)	60 (8.4%)	396 (55.2%)	65 (9.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (9.3%)	$20,157			$1,384			$18,773	37.9	56.5	979	568		060227013114
1548	Esparto Middle	Public	6-8	26058 Country Road 21A	Esparto	95627	Yolo County	Esparto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 787-4151	241	11	22.8	80.9%	38 (15.8%)	5 (2.1%)	180 (74.7%)	5 (2.1%)	5 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	$20,692			$2,083			$18,609	37.9	22.4	2153	605		061293004331
1549	ABLE Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6515 Inglewood Ave.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	ABLE Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 478-1600	1,186	58	20.4	80.2%	81 (6.8%)	116 (9.8%)	805 (67.9%)	97 (8.2%)	4 (0.3%)	9 (0.8%)	74 (6.2%)	$16,566			$928			$15,638	37.8	34.8	1636	87		060162813064
1550	Farber School of Independent Studies and Online	Public, Alternative	K-12	720 S 10th St.	Fresno	93702	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-5390	976	47	20.6	92.2%	89 (9.1%)	64 (6.6%)	686 (70.3%)	86 (8.8%)	12 (1.2%)	9 (0.9%)	29 (3.0%)	$23,748			$1,782			$21,966	37.8	28	1906	356		061455005749
1551	Sinaloa Middle	Public	6-8	601 Royal Ave.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6830	843	38	22.1	60.5%	301 (35.7%)	12 (1.4%)	441 (52.3%)	47 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (4.7%)	$15,822			$1,023			$14,799	37.8	40.2	1451	100		063684006269

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.