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
2322	Manzanita Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	461 33rd St.	Richmond	94804	Contra Costa County	Manzanita Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 222-3500	92	4	23	85.9%	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	87 (94.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)								17.9	30.5	1790	532		060235808692
2323	Harrison Elementary	Public	K-8	3203 Sanguinetti Ln.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7205	640	26	24.3	81.6%	25 (3.9%)	35 (5.5%)	447 (69.8%)	96 (15.0%)	3 (0.5%)	8 (1.3%)	26 (4.1%)	$13,863			$3,287			$10,576	17.9	21.6	2192	131		063801006415
2324	Elizabeth Learning Center	Public, Alternative	K-12	4811 Elizabeth St.	Cudahy	90201	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 271-3600	1,257	75	16.7	97.5%	18 (1.4%)	4 (0.3%)	1,223 (97.3%)	3 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (0.7%)	$22,611			$4,914			$17,697	17.9	15.4	2464	140		062271002983
2325	Emerson Middle	Public	6-8	635 Lincoln Ave.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4516	664	30	22.2	93.7%	9 (1.4%)	29 (4.4%)	599 (90.2%)	19 (2.9%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	$18,770			$2,406			$16,364	17.8	18.9	2303	22		063132004839
2326	Vinedale College Preparatory Academy	Public	K-8	10150 La Tuna Canyon Rd.	Sun Valley	91352	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 767-0106	207	12	17.2	90.8%	16 (7.7%)	8 (3.9%)	163 (78.7%)	11 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.3%)	$31,342			$5,300			$26,042	17.8	17.1	2394	68		062271003437
2327	Lucerne Elementary	Public	K-8	3351 Country Club Dr.	Lucerne	95458	Lake County	Lucerne Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 274-5578	282	14	20.1	84.4%	132 (46.8%)	3 (1.1%)	117 (41.5%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (8.9%)	$19,754			$3,004			$16,750	17.8	41.5	1412	915		062304003514
2328	San Ysidro Middle	Public	7-8	4345 Otay Mesa Rd.	San Ysidro	92154	San Diego County	San Ysidro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 428-5551	500	26	18.9	66.8%	9 (1.8%)	3 (0.6%)	479 (95.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.4%)								17.7	20.4	2246	82		063522005964
2329	Roosevelt Middle	Public	6-8	1926 19th Ave.	Oakland	94606	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3212	512	34	15.2	97.3%	8 (1.6%)	88 (17.2%)	239 (46.7%)	140 (27.3%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (1.0%)	28 (5.5%)	$27,680			$4,554			$23,126	17.7	19.5	2281	48		062805004312
2330	Toyon Middle	Public	6-8	3412 Double Spring Rd.	Valley Springs	95252	Calaveras County	Calaveras Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 754-2137	522	25	20.9	56.1%	324 (62.1%)	3 (0.6%)	139 (26.6%)	4 (0.8%)	7 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (8.6%)	$22,762			$2,233			$20,529	17.6	18.1	2338	8		060687008803
2331	Herbert Slater Middle	Public	7-8	3500 Sonoma Ave.	Santa Rosa	95405	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3880	577	33	17.7	60.1%	117 (20.3%)	10 (1.7%)	377 (65.3%)	26 (4.5%)	6 (1.0%)	16 (2.8%)	23 (4.0%)	$17,359			$1,072			$16,287	17.6	20.7	2232	99		063583006121

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.