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
1341	Mesa Middle	Public	7-8	2555 Halcyon Rd.	Arroyo Grande	93420	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3400	474	25	18.9	73.8%	131 (27.6%)	3 (0.6%)	311 (65.6%)	9 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.0%)	$18,195			$1,529			$16,666	44.6	41.8	1399	58		062308009910
1342	Growth Public	Public, Charter	K-8	9320 Tech Center Dr.	Sacramento	95826	Sacramento County	Growth Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 394-5007	300	14	21.4	63.3%	48 (16.0%)	29 (9.7%)	164 (54.7%)	18 (6.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)	38 (12.7%)	$18,401			$408			$17,993	44.6	45.8	1284	58		060218314124
1343	Mayfair High	Public	7-12	6000 North Woodruff Ave.	Lakewood	90713	Los Angeles County	Bellflower Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 925-9981	2,422	109	22.1	70.4%	226 (9.3%)	371 (15.3%)	1,429 (59.0%)	271 (11.2%)	7 (0.3%)	26 (1.1%)	89 (3.7%)	$22,088			$2,216			$19,872	44.5	37.9	1534	191		060444000402
1344	International Studies Learning Center at Legacy High School Complex	Public	6-12	5225 Tweedy Blvd.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 357-7521	867	44	19.8	86.2%	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	855 (98.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$17,083			$2,610			$14,473	44.5	36.7	1578	234		062271010863
1345	Parkside Intermediate	Public	6-8	1801 Niles Ave.	San Bruno	94066	San Mateo County	San Bruno Park Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 624-3180	491	30	16.3	68.2%	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.2%)	267 (54.4%)	127 (25.9%)	2 (0.4%)	26 (5.3%)	58 (11.8%)								44.5	39.5	1485	140		063423005398
1346	Browns Elementary	Public	K-8	1248 Pacific Ave.	Rio Oso	95674	Sutter County	Browns Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 633-2523	143	10	14.3	29.4%	82 (57.3%)	1 (0.7%)	42 (29.4%)	7 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.8%)	7 (4.9%)	$14,271			$510			$13,761	44.4	47	1247	99		060610000545
1347	Glenwood Elementary	Public	K-8	2005 North Alpine Rd.	Stockton	95215	San Joaquin County	Linden Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 931-3229	378	17	21.7	86.5%	63 (16.7%)	0 (0.0%)	292 (77.2%)	11 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.2%)	$19,540			$2,891			$16,649	44.4	32.7	1716	369		062181002586
1348	Spring Valley Elementary	Public	K-8	46655 Road 200	O Neals	93645	Madera County	Chawanakee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 868-3343	230	10	22.7	48.3%	158 (68.7%)	1 (0.4%)	51 (22.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (5.7%)	$15,811			$1,934			$13,877	44.3	28.4	1886	538		060011609482
1349	Saddleback High	Public	7-12	2801 South Flower	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 513-2900	1,451	78	18.5	94.0%	12 (0.8%)	6 (0.4%)	1,390 (95.8%)	32 (2.2%)	4 (0.3%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	$24,932			$1,090			$23,842	44.3	59.3	904	445		063531006004
1350	Somis Elementary	Public	K-8	5268 North St.	Somis	93066	Ventura County	Somis Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 386-5711	270	12	22.3	81.1%	50 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	215 (79.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	$20,236			$1,567			$18,669	44.3	57.3	959	391		063714006296

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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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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.