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
1131	Canyon Lake Middle	Public	6-8	33005 Canyon Hills Rd.	Lake Elsinore	92532	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7790	951	40	23.8	59.6%	344 (36.2%)	63 (6.6%)	451 (47.4%)	37 (3.9%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	50 (5.3%)	$15,373			$1,782			$13,591	52.1	52.5	1089	42		060002710588
1132	Gold Rush Home Study Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16331 Hidden Valley Rd.	Sonora	95370	Tuolumne County	Gold Rush Home Study Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-9781	430	21	20.3	43.0%	315 (73.3%)	4 (0.9%)	71 (16.5%)	2 (0.5%)	8 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (6.7%)	$11,806			$127			$11,679	52	52.4	1092	40		060178011827
1133	John Glenn Middle School of International Studies	Public	6-8	79-655 Miles Ave.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 200-3700	1,099	45	24.4	67.1%	175 (15.9%)	18 (1.6%)	829 (75.4%)	29 (2.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (4.3%)	$19,909			$3,029			$16,880	52	50.8	1147	14		061111008765
1134	Robert F. Kennedy Elementary	Public	K-8	1305 South Oleander St.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6420	610	27	22.5	88.0%	1 (0.2%)	45 (7.4%)	557 (91.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	$21,612			$3,955			$17,657	52	36.9	1570	436		060962000985
1135	Theodore Roosevelt Middle	Public	6-8	222 East Acacia Ave.	Glendale	91205	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 242-6845	842	40	21.1	61.6%	421 (50.0%)	13 (1.5%)	335 (39.8%)	65 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.0%)	$17,623			$1,165			$16,458	51.9	51.3	1127	8		061524001943
1136	Lakeview Junior High	Public	7-8	3700 Orcutt Rd.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8600	463	20	23.5	72.4%	98 (21.2%)	3 (0.6%)	322 (69.5%)	13 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	24 (5.2%)	$9,860			$749			$9,111	51.9	48.2	1210	74		062871004463
1137	Warner Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	30951 Highway 79	Warner Springs	92086	San Diego County	Warner Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 782-3517	98	8	12.5	71.4%	14 (14.3%)	2 (2.0%)	45 (45.9%)	1 (1.0%)	28 (28.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (8.2%)	$32,375			$5,907			$26,468	51.9	39.2	1493	356		060004205341
1138	DREAM Academy	Public	K-8	11838 Valle Vista Rd	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	Lakeside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 390-2600	138	6	23	39.1%	71 (51.4%)	3 (2.2%)	45 (32.6%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (13.0%)	$27,220			$698			$26,522	51.8			(n/a)		062079014397
1139	Will Rogers Middle	Public	6-8	4110 West 154th St.	Lawndale	90260	Los Angeles County	Lawndale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 676-1197	799	38	20.7	81.4%	22 (2.8%)	101 (12.6%)	578 (72.3%)	58 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.9%)	33 (4.1%)	$25,924			$1,821			$24,103	51.8	45.1	1309	170		062121002544
1140	Shiloh Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6633 Paradise Rd.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Shiloh Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 522-2261	163	11	15.4	66.3%	65 (39.9%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (55.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.1%)	$16,126			$664			$15,462	51.8	63.3	810	330		063666012799

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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