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
2162	Ahwahnee Middle	Public	7-8	1127 East Escalon Ave.	Fresno	93710	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 451-4300	738	38	19.5	86.2%	88 (11.9%)	62 (8.4%)	464 (62.9%)	78 (10.6%)	10 (1.4%)	3 (0.4%)	33 (4.5%)	$21,369			$2,877			$18,492	21.7	24.6	2049	113		061455001704
2163	Fairview Middle	Public	6-8	401 Fourth St.	Gonzales	93926	Monterey County	Gonzales Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 675-3704	426	24	17.8	83.8%	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	417 (97.9%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$23,416			$1,944			$21,472	21.7	21.6	2195	32		060004607184
2164	Lockeford Elementary	Public	K-8	19456 North Tully Rd.	Lockeford	95237	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7214	541	22	24.2	73.2%	191 (35.3%)	4 (0.7%)	313 (57.9%)	9 (1.7%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	19 (3.5%)	$15,256			$2,059			$13,197	21.6	35.3	1615	549		062223002657
2165	Global Learning Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1051 Robin Dr.	Visalia	93291	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7788	438	21	20.6	81.1%	33 (7.5%)	5 (1.1%)	380 (86.8%)	9 (2.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.3%)	$26,091			$3,527			$22,564	21.6	29.1	1857	308		064116014140
2166	Taft Elementary	Public	K-8	419 Downing Ave.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7285	449	22	20.1	87.1%	2 (0.4%)	38 (8.5%)	338 (75.3%)	50 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.0%)	$17,031			$3,349			$13,682	21.5	20.4	2250	84		063801001375
2167	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	4050 East Hamilton Ave.	Fresno	93702	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3210	829	44	18.9	95.4%	10 (1.2%)	29 (3.5%)	676 (81.5%)	103 (12.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.1%)	$18,989			$2,354			$16,635	21.5	24.5	2051	116		061455001765
2168	Canoga Park Middle	Public	6-8	22250 Elkwood St.	Canoga Park	91304	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 702-1200	579	34	17	91.7%	29 (5.0%)	14 (2.4%)	487 (84.1%)	37 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (1.9%)	$25,863			$4,505			$21,358	21.5	16.9	2401	233		062271002933
2169	Cardozo Middle	Public	6-8	3525 Santa Fe St.	Riverbank	95367	Stanislaus County	Riverbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 869-2591	544	28	19.4	82.5%	87 (16.0%)	3 (0.6%)	427 (78.5%)	6 (1.1%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.1%)	$18,724			$2,613			$16,111	21.5	20.6	2235	66		060006105115
2170	Cherry Avenue Middle	Public	7-8	540 North Cherry St.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 685-7320	483	23	21.1	91.1%	49 (10.1%)	15 (3.1%)	399 (82.6%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.1%)	$18,429			$3,351			$15,078	21.4	18.3	2330	160		063987006611
2171	Isbell Middle	Public	7-8	221 South Fourth St.	Santa Paula	93060	Ventura County	Santa Paula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 933-8880	634	30	20.8	83.8%	25 (3.9%)	2 (0.3%)	603 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	$23,843			$4,077			$19,766	21.4	26.6	1970	201		060142106109

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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