Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
1392	Pathways Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	150 Professional Center Dr. St	Rohnert Park	94928	Sonoma County	Pathways Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 585-6510	348	17	20.1	45.7%	158 (45.4%)	9 (2.6%)	119 (34.2%)	19 (5.5%)	3 (0.9%)	2 (0.6%)	34 (9.8%)	$14,250			$767			$13,483	42.9	38.3	1524	132		060208810685
1393	Alondra Middle	Public	6-8	16200 Downey Ave.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8004	735	41	17.9	92.5%	5 (0.7%)	27 (3.7%)	674 (91.7%)	11 (1.5%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.2%)	7 (1.0%)	$22,631			$2,163			$20,468	42.8	39.9	1467	74		062985012423
1394	Tierra del Sol Middle	Public	6-8	9611 Petite Ln.	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	Lakeside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 390-2670	713	36	19.5	41.4%	326 (45.7%)	19 (2.7%)	283 (39.7%)	22 (3.1%)	15 (2.1%)	4 (0.6%)	44 (6.2%)	$14,720			$840			$13,880	42.8	43.5	1356	38		062079002498
1395	Columbia Elementary	Public	K-8	3400 North California	El Monte	91731	Los Angeles County	El Monte City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 575-2306	706	30	23.7	90.4%	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	638 (90.4%)	60 (8.5%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$25,308			$5,580			$19,728	42.8	54.7	1021	374		061209001347
1396	MethodSchools	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	38750 Sky Canyon Dr.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	MethodSchools District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 461-4620	428	16	27.5	41.1%	179 (41.8%)	33 (7.7%)	172 (40.2%)	13 (3.0%)	5 (1.2%)	6 (1.4%)	15 (3.5%)	$18,309			$663			$17,646	42.8	31.4	1753	357		060168213762
1397	Sisson	Public	4-8	601 East Alma St.	Mount Shasta	96067	Siskiyou County	Mt. Shasta Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 926-3846	274	12	22.5	34.3%	222 (81.0%)	2 (0.7%)	34 (12.4%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	11 (4.0%)	$15,704			$2,373			$13,331	42.7	56.8	968	429		062604003899
1398	Lemon Grove	Public	K-8	450 Valmore Ave.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-1817	299	14	21.3	63.9%	134 (44.8%)	11 (3.7%)	134 (44.8%)	8 (2.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.7%)	$20,895			$4,218			$16,677	42.7	52.2	1100	298		064098006747
1399	Global Education Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	4141 South Figueroa St.	Los Angeles	90037	Los Angeles County	Global Education Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 232-9588	358	18	19.8	96.4%	3 (0.8%)	11 (3.1%)	343 (95.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$20,549			$2,626			$17,923	42.7	41.8	1400	1		060170211931
1400	Pacheco Elementary	Public	4-8	7430 Pacheco School Rd.	Redding	96002	Shasta County	Pacheco Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 224-4585	379	22	17.6	60.2%	250 (66.0%)	2 (0.5%)	60 (15.8%)	8 (2.1%)	16 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (11.3%)	$11,113			$1,416			$9,697	42.7	52.9	1071	329		062928004522
1401	Charles W. Tewinkle Middle	Public	7-8	3224 California Ave.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7965	501	33	15.3	80.8%	57 (11.4%)	4 (0.8%)	410 (81.8%)	14 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	12 (2.4%)	$28,927			$2,732			$26,195	42.7	43.3	1361	40		062724004131

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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