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
2272	Cesar E. Chavez Elementary	Public	K-8	301 North Marquita St.	Oxnard	93030	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1524	754	35	21.2	98.0%	10 (1.3%)	1 (0.1%)	742 (98.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$29,473			$2,812			$26,661	19	18.2	2335	63		062922004507
2273	Compton Junior High	Public	7-8	3211 Pico Ave.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5230	586	28	20.5	85.8%	47 (8.0%)	25 (4.3%)	502 (85.7%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	$19,923			$2,712			$17,211	19	17.8	2351	78		060363000294
2274	Washington	Public	5-8	129 South Washington St.	Cloverdale	95425	Sonoma County	Cloverdale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 894-1940	393	22	18.2	57.5%	114 (29.0%)	3 (0.8%)	233 (59.3%)	5 (1.3%)	12 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.6%)	$18,507			$1,132			$17,375	19	21	2218	56		060897000902
2275	Gerald P. Carr Intermediate	Public	6-8	2120 West Edinger St.	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 480-4100	886	47	18.9	96.4%	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	859 (97.0%)	15 (1.7%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	$24,749			$1,093			$23,656	18.9	19.9	2266	9		063531005982
2276	Walden Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1149 West Wood St.	Willows	95988	Glenn County	Walden Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 361-6480	167	10	16.7	44.3%	67 (40.1%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (38.3%)	3 (1.8%)	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (17.4%)	$14,072			$637			$13,435	18.8	24	2083	193		060242012983
2277	Audubon Middle	Public	6-8	4120 11th Ave.	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 290-6300	446	34	13.1	93.0%	12 (2.7%)	251 (56.3%)	162 (36.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.3%)	$38,010			$8,415			$29,595	18.8	18.2	2332	55		062271002829
2278	Magnolia Science Academy 3	Public, Charter	6-12	1254 East Helmick St.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 3 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 637-3806	411	18	22.6	72.5%	1 (0.2%)	174 (42.3%)	224 (54.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.2%)	$20,461			$1,102			$19,359	18.8	26.4	1981	297		060219412010
2279	San Fernando Middle	Public	6-8	130 North Brand Blvd.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-5400	442	28	15.5	95.7%	8 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	427 (96.6%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$28,595			$5,685			$22,910	18.7	19.3	2282	3		062271003324
2280	Rio Vista Middle	Public	6-8	3050 Thames River Dr.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 981-1507	637	28	22.3	65.1%	33 (5.2%)	15 (2.4%)	550 (86.3%)	27 (4.2%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.1%)	$23,558			$1,720			$21,838	18.7	23.6	2103	177		063276011957
2281	Knox Middle	Public	6-8	1098 South 49th St.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-5500	488	24	20.6	95.7%	5 (1.0%)	80 (16.4%)	355 (72.7%)	25 (5.1%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)	14 (2.9%)	$22,685			$5,226			$17,459	18.6	19	2300	19		063432012892

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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