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
1972	La Merced Intermediate	Public	6-8	215 East Avenida de la Merced	Montebello	90640	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 722-7262	682	32	21.5	92.4%	13 (1.9%)	6 (0.9%)	650 (95.3%)	12 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,377			$1,105			$13,272	25.7	31.1	1765	207		062547003800
1973	KIPP Sol Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	4800 East Cesar Chavez Ave.	Los Angeles	90022	Los Angeles County	KIPP Sol Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 800-5220	465	22	21	80.2%	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	458 (98.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$20,225			$2,488			$17,737	25.6	26.7	1967	6		060236913005
1974	Learning for Life Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	3180 Imjin Rd. Ste. 110	Marina	93933	Monterey County	Learning for Life Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 582-9820	160	7	22.8	61.3%	31 (19.4%)	5 (3.1%)	100 (62.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	21 (13.1%)	$16,122			$510			$15,612	25.6	8.3	2710	736		060231810560
1975	Scholarship Prep - South Bay	Public, Charter	K-8	24910 S. Avalon Blvd.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Scholarship Prep - South Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(424) 251-9089	421	17	24.7	92.2%	10 (2.4%)	81 (19.2%)	313 (74.3%)	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	9 (2.1%)	$22,288			$1,871			$20,417	25.6	30.9	1774	201		060249314408
1976	Bellflower High	Public	7-12	15301 South McNab Ave.	Bellflower	90706	Los Angeles County	Bellflower Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 920-1801	1,997	100	19.9	84.2%	59 (3.0%)	225 (11.3%)	1,530 (76.6%)	129 (6.5%)	7 (0.4%)	12 (0.6%)	35 (1.8%)	$21,816			$2,458			$19,358	25.6	30.7	1781	195		060444000396
1977	Spring Valley Academy	Public	6-8	3900 Conrad Dr.	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5750	597	35	16.8	77.4%	92 (15.4%)	57 (9.5%)	371 (62.1%)	26 (4.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	45 (7.5%)	$23,584			$2,522			$21,062	25.5	31.1	1766	211		062025002445
1978	Elkhorn Village Elementary	Public	K-8	750 Cummins Way	West Sacramento	95605	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7670	557	31	17.7	85.6%	40 (7.2%)	12 (2.2%)	465 (83.5%)	13 (2.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	22 (3.9%)								25.5	22.7	2140	162		064158006854
1979	Tracy Independent Study Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1904 North Corral Hollow Rd.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(209) 830-3200	359	18	19.7	76.6%	64 (17.8%)	35 (9.7%)	168 (46.8%)	61 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.9%)	24 (6.7%)	$18,843			$865			$17,978	25.5	18.8	2309	330		060004714472
1980	Palmdale Aerospace Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3300 East Palmdale Blvd.	Palmdale	93550	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Aerospace Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 273-3680	2,259	90	25	72.5%	103 (4.6%)	139 (6.2%)	1,888 (83.6%)	74 (3.3%)	7 (0.3%)	3 (0.1%)	43 (1.9%)	$17,893			$2,252			$15,641	25.5	34.7	1642	338		060194513029
1981	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #4	Public, Charter	K-8	1018 Mohawk St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 353-5300	475	24	19.4	92.4%	2 (0.4%)	8 (1.7%)	447 (94.1%)	12 (2.5%)	5 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,036			$1,109			$19,927	25.5	31.8	1738	243		060183712915

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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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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.