Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
151	El Segundo Middle	Public	6-8	332 Center St.	El Segundo	90245	Los Angeles County	El Segundo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 615-2690	804	35	22.8	10.3%	346 (43.0%)	25 (3.1%)	178 (22.1%)	98 (12.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	156 (19.4%)	$15,827			$1,277			$14,550	95.2	92.4	218	67		061221001389
152	Arthur E. Wright Middle	Public	6-8	4029 North Las Virgenes Rd.	Calabasas	91302	Los Angeles County	Las Virgenes Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 880-4614	670	28	24.1	29.1%	413 (61.6%)	11 (1.6%)	95 (14.2%)	62 (9.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	86 (12.8%)	$20,538			$592			$19,946	95.1	95.3	142	10		062100002528
153	Riverside STEM Academy	Public	5-12	4466 Mt.Vernon Ave.	Riverside	92507	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7308	665	26	25.5	53.5%	153 (23.0%)	24 (3.6%)	296 (44.5%)	144 (21.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	43 (6.5%)	$17,812			$731			$17,081	95.1	98.4	34	119		063315013103
154	Vista del Mar Middle	Public	6-8	1130 Avenue Talega	San Clemente	92673	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5955	499	22	22.2	16.2%	368 (73.7%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (11.8%)	20 (4.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (10.2%)	$20,214			$1,334			$18,880	95	96.1	126	28		060744011266
155	M. H. Stanley Middle	Public	6-8	3455 School St.	Lafayette	94549	Contra Costa County	Lafayette Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 927-3530	1,117	59	18.9	5.0%	629 (56.3%)	2 (0.2%)	121 (10.8%)	149 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	216 (19.3%)	$16,745			$624			$16,121	95	96.5	106	49		062031002449
156	Rolling Hills Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1585 More Ave.	Los Gatos	95032	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 364-4235	778	40	19.3	18.9%	246 (31.6%)	26 (3.3%)	187 (24.0%)	232 (29.8%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	83 (10.7%)	$18,380			$802			$17,578	95	94.7	164	8		060720000674
157	Thomas Russell Middle	Public	7-8	1500 Escuela Pkwy.	Milpitas	95035	Santa Clara County	Milpitas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 635-2864	761	33	23.1	38.8%	40 (5.3%)	15 (2.0%)	132 (17.3%)	526 (69.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	46 (6.0%)	$15,625			$761			$14,864	95	96.7	102	55		062450009401
158	Beechwood Elementary	Public	K-8	780 Beechwood Ave.	Fullerton	92835	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-2850	872	33	26.3	28.0%	175 (20.1%)	7 (0.8%)	215 (24.7%)	404 (46.3%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	66 (7.6%)	$15,705			$245			$15,460	94.9	95.2	146	12		061473008241
159	Foothills Middle	Public	6-8	171 East Sycamore Ave.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-8363	650	29	22.6	24.2%	51 (7.8%)	5 (0.8%)	116 (17.8%)	432 (66.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (6.9%)	$16,646			$1,591			$15,055	94.8	95.5	138	21		060297000229
160	Clay Elementary	Public	K-8	12449 South Smith Ave.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Clay Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-4185	246	9	27.3	15.4%	158 (64.2%)	1 (0.4%)	79 (32.1%)	6 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	$14,025			$770			$13,255	94.7	91.6	240	80		060885000897

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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