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
2382	Maricopa Middle	Public	6-8	955 Stanislaus St.	Maricopa	93252	Kern County	Maricopa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 769-8231	71	5	15.7	95.8%	25 (35.2%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (57.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.6%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,487			$3,233			$12,254	16.5	10.6	2649	267		062382012615
2383	Bostonia Global	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1390 Broadway	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Bostonia Global District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3121	1,266	54	23.4	83.8%	244 (19.3%)	49 (3.9%)	882 (69.7%)	22 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	66 (5.2%)	$14,928			$529			$14,399	16.4	22.2	2161	222		060256214589
2384	Sycamore Magnet Academy	Public	K-8	1402 Sycamore Ave.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7360	1,085	43	25.1	87.2%	37 (3.4%)	8 (0.7%)	1,001 (92.3%)	18 (1.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	18 (1.7%)	$16,495			$2,174			$14,321	16.4	17.5	2370	14		064015006636
2385	Pivot Charter School - North Bay	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2999 Cleveland Ave.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Pivot Charter School - North Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(707) 843-4676	437	27	15.9	61.8%	191 (43.7%)	10 (2.3%)	159 (36.4%)	12 (2.7%)	14 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	45 (10.3%)	$11,843			$981			$10,862	16.4	32.1	1728	657		060233014244
2386	Monterey County Home Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	901 Blanco Cir.	Salinas	93901	Monterey County	Monterey County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 755-0331	255	14	18.8	69.0%	43 (16.9%)	1 (0.4%)	201 (78.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	4 (1.6%)	3 (1.2%)	$39,872			$290			$39,582	16.4	14	2512	126		069102108529
2387	Mountain View Middle	Public	7-8	8001 Weedpatch Hwy.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Lamont Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 845-2291	594	29	20.1	80.8%	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	592 (99.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,511			$2,737			$14,774	16.4	15.3	2468	81		062085002503
2388	Monroe Elementary	Public	K-8	2236 East 11th St.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7250	426	16	26.4	92.3%	7 (1.6%)	40 (9.4%)	318 (74.6%)	47 (11.0%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.9%)	$14,149			$2,968			$11,181	16.3	20.6	2234	154		063801006425
2389	John Muir Middle	Public	6-8	5929 South Vermont Ave.	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 565-2200	624	34	18.3	98.7%	7 (1.1%)	102 (16.3%)	509 (81.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	$25,731			$5,437			$20,294	16.3	10.9	2635	246		062271003204
2390	August Knodt Elementary	Public	K-8	3939 EWS Woods Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6200	642	27	23.3	67.9%	39 (6.1%)	72 (11.2%)	380 (59.2%)	117 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.7%)	23 (3.6%)	$15,514			$2,061			$13,453	16.3	18.3	2327	63		062361001374
2391	Hanford Elementary Community Day	Public	K-8	1412 Dawn Ln.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3878	12	3	4	75.0%	3 (25.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (75.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,713			$2,930			$13,783	16.2	5.8	2756	365		061647008707

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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