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
251	Magnolia Science Academy San Diego	Public, Charter	6-8	6525 Estrella Ave.	San Diego	92120	San Diego County	Magnolia Science Academy San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 644-1300	464	17	26.9	34.1%	171 (36.9%)	17 (3.7%)	157 (33.8%)	53 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	62 (13.4%)	$14,808			$470			$14,338	91	91.9	230	21		060238711393
252	Pacific Grove Middle	Public	6-8	835 Forest Ave.	Pacific Grove	93950	Monterey County	Pacific Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 646-6568	439	25	17.2	15.9%	240 (54.7%)	9 (2.1%)	86 (19.6%)	58 (13.2%)	6 (1.4%)	5 (1.1%)	35 (8.0%)	$25,809			$1,576			$24,233	91	87.2	340	88		062937004531
253	Bernardo Heights Middle	Public	6-8	12990 Paseo Lucido	San Diego	92128	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 485-4850	1,487	66	22.6	13.8%	615 (41.4%)	29 (2.0%)	248 (16.7%)	400 (26.9%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.1%)	187 (12.6%)	$14,811			$661			$14,150	91	89.4	292	39		063153009425
254	Odyssey Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	725 West Altadena Dr.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	Odyssey Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 229-0993	463	18	25.7	25.5%	209 (45.1%)	31 (6.7%)	123 (26.6%)	29 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (15.3%)	$14,884			$853			$14,031	90.9	97.3	81	173		060191508012
255	Plaza Vista	Public	K-8	670 Paseo Westpark	Irvine	92606	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6955	835	33	25.5	20.2%	168 (20.1%)	8 (1.0%)	122 (14.6%)	462 (55.3%)	4 (0.5%)	4 (0.5%)	67 (8.0%)	$14,375			$378			$13,997	90.9	91.7	237	18		068450008252
256	Standley Middle	Public	6-8	6298 Radcliffe Dr.	San Diego	92122	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 605-2100	813	37	21.9	43.3%	327 (40.2%)	20 (2.5%)	236 (29.0%)	132 (16.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	95 (11.7%)	$18,167			$2,308			$15,859	90.9	90.1	277	21		063432005554
257	Rancho Milpitas Middle	Public	7-8	1915 Yellowstone Ave.	Milpitas	95035	Santa Clara County	Milpitas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 635-2656	693	33	21.2	43.7%	25 (3.6%)	19 (2.7%)	168 (24.2%)	425 (61.3%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.9%)	49 (7.1%)	$17,594			$1,465			$16,129	90.9	91.8	236	21		062450003670
258	D. Russell Parks Junior High	Public	7-8	1710 Rosecrans Ave.	Fullerton	92833	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-7785	854	36	23.6	47.7%	124 (14.5%)	10 (1.2%)	332 (38.9%)	325 (38.1%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	57 (6.7%)	$17,327			$282			$17,045	90.8	91.9	232	26		061473001801
259	KIPP Heartwood Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	KIPP Heartwood Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 926-5477	423	24	17.4	73.5%	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	274 (64.8%)	137 (32.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.4%)	$38,372			$2,906			$35,466	90.8	91.8	234	25		060161911444
260	Hillcrest Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	725 Bloomfield Rd.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Gravenstein Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 823-7653	297	18	16.8	30.0%	180 (60.6%)	1 (0.3%)	74 (24.9%)	13 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	26 (8.8%)	$12,768			$324			$12,444	90.7	82.4	434	174		061584002001

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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