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
1161	Luiseno	Public	K-8	13500 Mountain Rd.	Corona	92883	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 253-7480	819	37	22.3	55.7%	205 (25.0%)	54 (6.6%)	491 (60.0%)	26 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (5.1%)	$16,511			$1,664			$14,847	50.8	41.3	1417	256		060002710281
1162	Happy Valley Elementary	Public	4-8	17480 Palm Ave.	Anderson	96007	Shasta County	Happy Valley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 357-2111	242	11	22.2	75.2%	123 (50.8%)	5 (2.1%)	48 (19.8%)	32 (13.2%)	8 (3.3%)	1 (0.4%)	25 (10.3%)	$20,401			$7,664			$12,737	50.8	26.9	1954	792		061657002089
1163	Smith River Elementary	Public	K-8	134 First St.	Smith River	95567	Del Norte County	Del Norte County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-0370	258	11	24.3	67.8%	79 (30.6%)	1 (0.4%)	116 (45.0%)	2 (0.8%)	45 (17.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.8%)	$23,534			$2,901			$20,633	50.7	52.8	1076	87		061077001199
1164	Roosevelt International Middle	Public	6-8	3366 Park Blvd.	San Diego	92103	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 362-3850	760	35	21.6	61.1%	188 (24.7%)	45 (5.9%)	403 (53.0%)	25 (3.3%)	6 (0.8%)	3 (0.4%)	88 (11.6%)	$21,099			$3,664			$17,435	50.7	52.2	1099	65		063432005541
1165	Louis Pasteur Fundamental Middle	Public	6-8	8935 Elm Ave.	Orangevale	95662	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7891	708	30	23.9	52.4%	451 (63.7%)	13 (1.8%)	168 (23.7%)	21 (3.0%)	4 (0.6%)	6 (0.8%)	44 (6.2%)	$16,131			$1,744			$14,387	50.5	62.4	833	332		063462005808
1166	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	1-12	951 Palisade St.	Hayward	94542	Alameda County	Hayward Twin Oaks Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 370-3334	643	18	34.9	37.9%	94 (14.6%)	23 (3.6%)	297 (46.2%)	91 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	131 (20.4%)	$15,892			$1,422			$14,470	50.5	36.4	1583	417		060223813531
1167	Margarita Middle	Public	6-8	30600 Margarita Rd.	Temecula	92591	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 695-7370	731	33	21.9	54.7%	223 (30.5%)	30 (4.1%)	346 (47.3%)	61 (8.3%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	66 (9.0%)	$16,038			$1,758			$14,280	50.4	58.1	931	236		060002809505
1168	Alexander Fleming Middle	Public	6-8	25425 Walnut St.	Lomita	90717	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 257-4500	1,110	62	18	88.8%	72 (6.5%)	136 (12.3%)	787 (70.9%)	63 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.5%)	46 (4.1%)	$20,532			$3,965			$16,567	50.4	41.7	1405	237		062271003011
1169	Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies	Public, Virtual	K-8	44034 13th St. West	Lancaster	93534	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(661) 488-7600	282	11	25.4	90.1%	30 (10.6%)	63 (22.3%)	164 (58.2%)	7 (2.5%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (5.0%)	$22,788			$3,271			$19,517	50.4	17.3	2377	1208		062088005857
1170	Vineyard Elementary	Public	K-8	1500 East Sixth St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 984-2306	562	22	25.4	86.7%	9 (1.6%)	8 (1.4%)	504 (89.7%)	22 (3.9%)	9 (1.6%)	8 (1.4%)	2 (0.4%)	$22,024			$3,236			$18,788	50.3	46.8	1253	83		062847004415

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

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

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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.