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
1402	Forest Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	470 Searls Ave.	Nevada City	95959	Nevada County	Nevada County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 265-4823	845	40	20.9	44.5%	659 (78.0%)	4 (0.5%)	104 (12.3%)	5 (0.6%)	10 (1.2%)	3 (0.4%)	56 (6.6%)	$13,936			$401			$13,535	42.7	46.7	1258	144		069102311839
1403	Glen Edwards Middle	Public	6-8	204 L St.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	Western Placer Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 645-6370	815	37	21.9	44.8%	328 (40.2%)	25 (3.1%)	370 (45.4%)	30 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (7.4%)	$14,475			$1,436			$13,039	42.6	52	1109	294		064214009656
1404	Cesar Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	202 Oleander Dr.	Oceanside	92057	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 966-4900	557	29	19.3	80.4%	49 (8.8%)	18 (3.2%)	409 (73.4%)	25 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.1%)	39 (7.0%)	$10,355			$1,056			$9,299	42.5	30.4	1793	389		062825011922
1405	Porterville Military Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	900 West Pioneer Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-7300	255	17	15.3	90.2%	44 (17.3%)	2 (0.8%)	195 (76.5%)	6 (2.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	6 (2.4%)	$24,159			$1,743			$22,416	42.5	32	1733	328		060006414357
1406	Connecting Waters Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	12420 Bentley St.	Waterford	95386	Stanislaus County	Connecting Waters Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1119	776	41	18.7	54.6%	339 (43.7%)	14 (1.8%)	271 (34.9%)	68 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (10.4%)	$14,197			$57			$14,140	42.5	52.8	1075	331		060217010698
1407	Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	603 East 115th St.	Los Angeles	90059	Los Angeles County	Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 905-1377	390	17	22.8	96.9%	0 (0.0%)	91 (23.3%)	286 (73.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	12 (3.1%)	$19,234			$3,064			$16,170	42.5	44.3	1333	74		060169411634
1408	Cappy Culver Elementary	Public	K-8	11011 Heritage Ranch Loop Rd.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	San Miguel Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 227-1040	220	10	22.1	48.2%	149 (67.7%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (23.6%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.4%)	1 (0.5%)	14 (6.4%)	$19,990			$3,141			$16,849	42.5	41.4	1416	8		063501011786
1409	Hans Christensen Middle	Public	6-8	27625 Sherman Rd.	Menifee	92586	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 679-8356	369	17	21.3	73.4%	56 (15.2%)	31 (8.4%)	207 (56.1%)	14 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.9%)	54 (14.6%)	$19,170			$1,152			$18,018	42.4	43	1373	36		062454012424
1410	Girls Athletic Leadership School Los Angeles	Public, Charter	6-8	14200 Runnymede St.	Van Nuys	91405	Los Angeles County	Girls Athletic Leadership School Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 389-1184	161	11	14.5	71.4%	10 (6.2%)	10 (6.2%)	134 (83.2%)	6 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$32,433			$4,555			$27,878	42.4	49.2	1192	218		060146613973
1411	PUC CALS Middle School and Early College High	Public, Charter	6-12	7350 North Figueroa St.	Los Angeles	90041	Los Angeles County	PUC CALS Middle School and Early College High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 239-0063	265	19	13.9	95.1%	8 (3.0%)	4 (1.5%)	248 (93.6%)	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$28,759			$2,256			$26,503	42.4	31.7	1743	332		060183310890

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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