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
761	Tom Hawkins Elementary	Public	K-8	475 Darlene Ln.	Tracy	95377	San Joaquin County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 839-2380	728	36	20.3	48.8%	152 (20.9%)	50 (6.9%)	295 (40.5%)	183 (25.1%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	43 (5.9%)	$14,366			$1,746			$12,620	66	63.4	808	47		061884008615
762	South Sutter Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2044 Nicolaus Ave.	East Nicolaus	95659	Sutter County	South Sutter Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(800) 979-4436	2,653	112	23.7	38.4%	1,508 (56.8%)	47 (1.8%)	456 (17.2%)	96 (3.6%)	8 (0.3%)	5 (0.2%)	531 (20.0%)	$12,502			$917			$11,585	66	62.9	819	57		060174011518
763	Manzanita Elementary	Public	K-8	627 East Evans-Reimer Rd.	Gridley	95948	Butte County	Manzanita Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 846-5594	306	16	18.6	42.8%	131 (42.8%)	2 (0.7%)	142 (46.4%)	8 (2.6%)	5 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	17 (5.6%)	$14,865			$860			$14,005	66	72.1	649	114		062370003592
764	Anthony C. Traina Elementary	Public	K-8	4256 Windsong Dr.	Tracy	95377	San Joaquin County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 839-2379	721	31	23.3	50.9%	104 (14.4%)	40 (5.5%)	267 (37.0%)	233 (32.3%)	6 (0.8%)	11 (1.5%)	60 (8.3%)	$11,820			$1,435			$10,385	66	60.4	877	113		061884011411
765	Feather River Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4305 South Meridian Rd.	Meridian	95957	Sutter County	Feather River Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 932-1802	2,731	92	29.6	34.5%	1,892 (69.3%)	43 (1.6%)	408 (14.9%)	81 (3.0%)	2 (0.1%)	16 (0.6%)	285 (10.4%)	$13,263			$336			$12,927	65.8	49.9	1177	412		060240014025
766	La Mesa	Public	K-8	1 La Mesa Way	Monterey	93940	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 649-1872	689	29	23.4	45.3%	306 (44.4%)	26 (3.8%)	200 (29.0%)	74 (10.7%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.0%)	72 (10.4%)	$19,901			$2,015			$17,886	65.8	68	722	44		062553003830
767	Kelly Elementary	Public	K-8	2320 East Alondra Blvd.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6410	685	26	25.8	89.6%	0 (0.0%)	66 (9.6%)	607 (88.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (1.0%)	$21,770			$3,375			$18,395	65.8	72	653	114		060962000984
768	Preuss School UCSD	Public, Charter	6-12	9500 Gilman Dr.	La Jolla	92093	San Diego County	Preuss School UCSD District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 822-3000	825	43	19.1	90.8%	24 (2.9%)	195 (23.6%)	454 (55.0%)	136 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (1.9%)	$19,531			$5,538			$13,993	65.8	68.2	718	50		060214808303
769	Buchser Middle	Public	6-8	1111 Bellomy St.	Santa Clara	95050	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-3000	711	40	17.8	32.2%	144 (20.3%)	21 (3.0%)	356 (50.1%)	121 (17.0%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	63 (8.9%)	$31,101			$1,348			$29,753	65.7	65.8	773	4		063543007866
770	Trivium Charter School Adventure	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1600 Berkeley Dr.	Lompoc	93436	Santa Barbara County	Trivium Charter School Adventure District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 291-1303	301	8	40	39.9%	168 (55.8%)	6 (2.0%)	72 (23.9%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.3%)	2 (0.7%)	47 (15.6%)	$13,852			$359			$13,493	65.7	58.4	921	151		060163114339

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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