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
2152	Hamilton Elementary	Public	K-8	102 East Clinton	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7370	811	45	18.2	85.8%	67 (8.3%)	37 (4.6%)	633 (78.1%)	28 (3.5%)	10 (1.2%)	3 (0.4%)	32 (3.9%)	$21,650			$3,313			$18,337	22.1	23.2	2121	31		061455010488
2153	Anderson Valley Junior-Senior High	Public	7-12	18200 Mountain View Rd.	Boonville	95415	Mendocino County	Anderson Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 895-3496	192	16	12.3	74.0%	26 (13.5%)	2 (1.0%)	164 (85.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,095			$1,839			$20,256	22.1	22.8	2135	18		060273000199
2154	Lathrop Elementary	Public	K-8	15851 South Fifth St.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7250	1,000	39	25.5	72.1%	72 (7.2%)	36 (3.6%)	744 (74.4%)	103 (10.3%)	5 (0.5%)	6 (0.6%)	34 (3.4%)	$14,410			$1,969			$12,441	22	29.6	1827	327		062361003580
2155	Pacific View Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3670 Ocean Ranch Blvd.	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Pacific View Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 757-0161	562	30	18.7	77.6%	79 (14.1%)	32 (5.7%)	388 (69.0%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.2%)	45 (8.0%)	$14,848			$194			$14,654	21.9	22	2172	17		060153708313
2156	Innovations Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	10886 Gadsten Way	Rancho Cordova	95670	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 294-2445	113	9	12.3	58.4%	41 (36.3%)	10 (8.8%)	34 (30.1%)	7 (6.2%)	1 (0.9%)	2 (1.8%)	18 (15.9%)	$30,195			$543			$29,652	21.8	25.8	2005	151		061389014548
2157	Washington Middle	Public	6-8	1400 E. 20th St.	Long Beach	90806	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 591-7477	849	35	24.5	82.3%	12 (1.4%)	104 (12.2%)	692 (81.5%)	27 (3.2%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	10 (1.2%)	$19,029			$3,876			$15,153	21.8	22.5	2149	8		062250002765
2158	Joseph Le Conte Middle	Public	6-8	1316 North Bronson Ave.	Hollywood	90028	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 308-1700	627	39	16	94.7%	25 (4.0%)	30 (4.8%)	541 (86.3%)	26 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	$23,886			$4,357			$19,529	21.8	20.6	2237	79		062271003129
2159	San Fernando Institute of Applied Media	Public	6-8	130 North Brand Blvd.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-5455	384	20	18.9	90.9%	7 (1.8%)	6 (1.6%)	365 (95.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$21,477			$3,164			$18,313	21.7	26	1994	165		062271013108
2160	KIPP Academy of Opportunity	Public, Charter	5-8	8500 South Figueroa St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	KIPP Academy of Opportunity District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 778-0125	466	20	23.7	83.0%	1 (0.2%)	185 (39.7%)	269 (57.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.1%)	$18,514			$1,384			$17,130	21.7	24.9	2037	123		060169311308
2161	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #2	Public, Charter	K-8	3400 West 3rd St.	Los Angeles	90020	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 736-5542	711	34	20.8	94.4%	4 (0.6%)	8 (1.1%)	686 (96.5%)	10 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$19,681			$999			$18,682	21.7	17.2	2381	220		060174112738

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.