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
1281	River Charter Schools Lighthouse Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	899 Bryte Ave.	West Sacramento	95605	Yolo County	River Charter Schools Lighthouse Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 744-1212	446	21	21.6	62.8%	107 (24.0%)	16 (3.6%)	220 (49.3%)	31 (7.0%)	2 (0.4%)	8 (1.8%)	62 (13.9%)								46.6	48.9	1197	84		060231413849
1282	James B. Davidson Middle	Public	6-8	280 Woodland Ave.	San Rafael	94901	Marin County	San Rafael City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 485-2400	1,052	61	17.1	69.9%	218 (20.7%)	9 (0.9%)	765 (72.7%)	19 (1.8%)	6 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	31 (2.9%)	$18,878			$1,344			$17,534	46.5	44.5	1327	45		063509005936
1283	Aveson Global Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	300 Madre St.	Pasadena	91107	Los Angeles County	Aveson Global Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 797-1438	200	15	13.3	38.0%	66 (33.0%)	21 (10.5%)	84 (42.0%)	5 (2.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (10.5%)	$24,494			$2,171			$22,323	46.5	28.4	1887	604		060218112028
1284	Carpinteria Middle	Public	6-8	5351 Carpinteria Ave.	Carpinteria	93013	Santa Barbara County	Carpinteria Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 684-4544	437	26	16.8	72.3%	81 (18.5%)	4 (0.9%)	341 (78.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	$23,405			$2,658			$20,747	46.5	54.6	1028	256		060756000726
1285	Ivy Academia	Public, Charter	K-8	5975 Shoup Ave.	Woodland Hills	91367	Los Angeles County	Ivy Academia District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 716-0771	398	16	25.2	69.6%	46 (11.6%)	44 (11.1%)	248 (62.3%)	31 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.3%)	$19,286			$1,365			$17,921	46.4	26.8	1965	680		060202510845
1286	Newton Middle	Public	6-8	15616 Newton St.	Hacienda Heights	91745	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-2400	565	24	23	67.4%	15 (2.7%)	4 (0.7%)	471 (83.4%)	65 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	$19,115			$1,474			$17,641	46.4	47.5	1235	51		061632502058
1287	Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate	Public	6-8	600 Church St.	Half Moon Bay	94019	San Mateo County	Cabrillo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 712-7190	521	24	21.6	27.4%	208 (39.9%)	0 (0.0%)	270 (51.8%)	10 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (5.8%)	$16,809			$1,654			$15,155	46.3	43.1	1368	81		060678000601
1288	Mammoth Middle	Public	6-8	1600 Meridian Blvd.	Mammoth Lakes	93546	Mono County	Mammoth Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 934-9315	243	13	18.1	47.3%	80 (32.9%)	0 (0.0%)	153 (63.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	$19,273			$1,309			$17,964	46.3	57	961	327		062353003336
1289	Andrew Carnegie Middle	Public	6-8	21820 Bonita St.	Carson	90745	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 952-5700	843	48	17.4	84.9%	10 (1.2%)	167 (19.8%)	502 (59.5%)	111 (13.2%)	2 (0.2%)	13 (1.5%)	38 (4.5%)	$23,084			$4,524			$18,560	46.2	39.4	1486	197		062271002896
1290	Camino Nuevo Elementary #3	Public, Charter	K-8	1723 Cordova St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Elementary #3 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 730-7160	743	35	21.3	84.1%	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	730 (98.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	$20,836			$2,632			$18,204	46.1	50.1	1170	120		060207712805

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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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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.