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
121	Granada Hills Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	10535 Zelzah Ave.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Granada Hills Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 360-2361	5,927	240	24.6	47.3%	1,353 (22.8%)	243 (4.1%)	2,579 (43.5%)	1,511 (25.5%)	17 (0.3%)	22 (0.4%)	183 (3.1%)	$18,082			$1,467			$16,615	95.9	95	155	34		060220603050
122	Edison Computech	Public	7-8	555 East Belgravia	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-2640	788	34	23.1	70.9%	93 (11.8%)	43 (5.5%)	524 (66.5%)	90 (11.4%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	29 (3.7%)	$15,387			$2,041			$13,346	95.9	92	228	106		061455008844
123	Girls Academic Leadership Academy Dr. Michelle King School STEM	Public	6-12	2328 Saint James Pl.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 900-4533	720	36	20	56.7%	221 (30.7%)	93 (12.9%)	205 (28.5%)	96 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	104 (14.4%)	$17,568			$2,071			$15,497	95.8	96	127	4		062271013968
124	Bret Harte Middle	Public	6-8	7050 Bret Harte Dr.	San Jose	95120	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6270	862	41	21.1	11.9%	202 (23.4%)	13 (1.5%)	117 (13.6%)	455 (52.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (8.6%)	$20,478			$714			$19,764	95.8	96.1	123	1		063459005703
125	Rosemont Middle	Public	7-8	4725 Rosemont Ave.	La Crescenta	91214	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 248-4224	1,221	50	24.3	39.0%	628 (51.4%)	10 (0.8%)	136 (11.1%)	353 (28.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (7.6%)	$15,320			$609			$14,711	95.8	95.6	134	9		061524001944
126	Tustin Connect	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1151 San Juan St.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(714) 430-2052	268	11	23.7	47.4%	92 (34.3%)	5 (1.9%)	106 (39.6%)	44 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.5%)	$15,639			$1,287			$14,352	95.7	94.2	178	52		064015007201
127	Muirlands Middle	Public	6-8	1056 Nautilus St.	La Jolla	92037	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 459-4211	742	29	25.6	20.6%	425 (57.3%)	4 (0.5%)	151 (20.4%)	70 (9.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (12.1%)	$18,815			$2,376			$16,439	95.7	96.1	119	8		063432005527
128	Charter Montessori Valley View Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	1665 Blackstone Pkwy.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 672-3890	692	29	24	14.5%	385 (55.6%)	8 (1.2%)	132 (19.1%)	86 (12.4%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	76 (11.0%)								95.6	95.3	140	12		060627010767
129	Tice Creek	Public	K-8	1847 Newell Ave.	Walnut Creek	94595	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 746-5515	451	21	21.3	7.5%	200 (44.3%)	7 (1.6%)	50 (11.1%)	99 (22.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	93 (20.6%)	$15,949			$728			$15,221	95.6	94	190	61		064125013866
130	Elevate	Public, Charter	K-8	2285 Murray Ridge Rd.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	Elevate District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 751-4774	476	22	22	45.6%	144 (30.3%)	80 (16.8%)	133 (27.9%)	42 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	75 (15.8%)	$17,933			$2,062			$15,871	95.6	97	92	38		060150313795

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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