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
2182	Pinon Mesa Middle	Public	6-8	9298 Sheep Creek Rd.	Phelan	92329	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 868-3126	835	39	21.4	77.2%	237 (28.4%)	9 (1.1%)	502 (60.1%)	15 (1.8%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	68 (8.1%)	$15,624			$2,381			$13,243	21.1	23.2	2119	63		063697008987
2183	George Washington Carver Middle	Public	6-8	4410 McKinley Ave.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 846-2900	635	39	16.1	98.3%	4 (0.6%)	49 (7.7%)	571 (89.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.7%)	$27,944			$4,355			$23,589	21	13.9	2517	334		062271002902
2184	Rancho Viejo Middle	Public	6-8	985 North Cawston Ave.	Hemet	92545	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-6287	1,040	49	21.3	89.3%	125 (12.0%)	99 (9.5%)	749 (72.0%)	17 (1.6%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	43 (4.1%)	$19,405			$2,492			$16,913	21	21.1	2214	30		061692012275
2185	Yuba Gardens Intermediate	Public	7-8	1964 11th Ave.	Olivehurst	95961	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 741-6194	761	37	20.8	77.5%	143 (18.8%)	26 (3.4%)	430 (56.5%)	110 (14.5%)	11 (1.4%)	4 (0.5%)	37 (4.9%)	$18,722			$3,022			$15,700	21	19.9	2267	82		062409003639
2186	Adelante Dual Language Academy II	Public	K-8	1970 Cinderella Ln.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7100	368	18	20.6	80.7%	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	359 (97.6%)	4 (1.1%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,951			$3,087			$20,864	21	17.7	2359	173		060231014147
2187	Magnolia Science Academy 2	Public, Charter	6-12	17125 Victory Blvd.	Van Nuys	91406	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-0300	514	21	24	92.6%	16 (3.1%)	16 (3.1%)	468 (91.1%)	13 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,194			$1,015			$19,179	21	20.1	2259	72		060231911842
2188	Mann Middle	Public	6-8	4345 54th St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 560-4460	680	30	22.4	94.1%	18 (2.6%)	164 (24.1%)	332 (48.8%)	126 (18.5%)	4 (0.6%)	6 (0.9%)	30 (4.4%)	$20,891			$4,042			$16,849	20.9	17.5	2368	180		063432005510
2189	Lincoln Junior High	Public	6-8	810 Sixth St.	Taft	93268	Kern County	Taft City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 765-2127	748	40	18.6	89.6%	199 (26.6%)	8 (1.1%)	526 (70.3%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	$17,427			$5,829			$11,598	20.9	24.4	2059	130		063870006506
2190	Ione Junior High	Public	6-8	450 S Mills St.	Ione	95640	Amador County	Amador County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 257-5500	387	15	25.3	31.0%	242 (62.5%)	1 (0.3%)	107 (27.6%)	5 (1.3%)	6 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	25 (6.5%)	$13,327			$825			$12,502	20.9	28.1	1899	291		060245009301
2191	Colonial Heights	Public	K-8	8135 Balboa Ave.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lincoln Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-8783	547	25	21.7	84.6%	61 (11.2%)	62 (11.3%)	309 (56.5%)	64 (11.7%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.3%)	43 (7.9%)	$14,425			$1,032			$13,393	20.9	27	1948	243		062169002575

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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