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
1382	Big Bear Middle	Public	6-8	41275 Big Bear Blvd.	Big Bear Lake	92315	San Bernardino County	Bear Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 866-4634	489	23	21	70.3%	242 (49.5%)	2 (0.4%)	216 (44.2%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.5%)								43.5	41.1	1424	42		060423000382
1383	Willis Jepson Middle	Public	7-8	580 Elder St.	Vacaville	95688	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-6280	954	46	20.8	51.5%	360 (37.7%)	35 (3.7%)	400 (41.9%)	54 (5.7%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.4%)	97 (10.2%)	$15,000			$1,229			$13,771	43.5	42.1	1391	8		064059006703
1384	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,721	70	24.5	76.6%	237 (13.8%)	314 (18.2%)	1,008 (58.6%)	71 (4.1%)	20 (1.2%)	9 (0.5%)	62 (3.6%)	$14,110			$772			$13,338	43.5	37.5	1545	161		060196412477
1385	Mountain View	Public	K-8	3550 Logan Ave.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-6210	195	11	18.2	87.2%	15 (7.7%)	1 (0.5%)	171 (87.7%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)	$25,965			$3,053			$22,912	43.4	31.1	1767	382		063432014500
1386	Mountain View Middle	Public	6-8	10001 Crows Landing Rd.	Turlock	95313	Stanislaus County	Chatom Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 664-8515	166	7	23.3	72.3%	47 (28.3%)	0 (0.0%)	116 (69.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$17,972			$826			$17,146	43.4	33.5	1690	304		060825000809
1387	Walter Woodward Elementary	Public	K-8	575 Tannehill Dr.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7430	1,056	43	24.7	58.4%	185 (17.5%)	66 (6.3%)	444 (42.0%)	281 (26.6%)	3 (0.3%)	17 (1.6%)	60 (5.7%)	$14,693			$2,115			$12,578	43.3	47.1	1244	143		062361011419
1388	Orchard Elementary	Public	K-8	921 Fox Ln.	San Jose	95131	Santa Clara County	Orchard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 944-0388	740	45	16.4	50.1%	33 (4.5%)	29 (3.9%)	347 (46.9%)	270 (36.5%)	5 (0.7%)	10 (1.4%)	46 (6.2%)	$8,824			$712			$8,112	43.1	59.1	908	480		062868004460
1389	Blue Oak Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	28050 Rd. 148	Visalia	93292	Tulare County	Blue Oak Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7422	430	21	20.4	38.1%	159 (37.0%)	1 (0.2%)	254 (59.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.0%)	$12,921			$964			$11,957	43	38.1	1527	138		060229914157
1390	Granger Junior High	Public	7-9	2101 Granger Ave.	National City	91950	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 472-6000	724	33	21.9	76.4%	26 (3.6%)	12 (1.7%)	514 (71.0%)	146 (20.2%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.7%)	17 (2.3%)								43	41.4	1414	24		063864006482
1391	Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle	Public	7-8	601 Mercy Ave.	Merced	95340	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6330	624	21	30.1	58.5%	112 (17.9%)	32 (5.1%)	360 (57.7%)	75 (12.0%)	7 (1.1%)	3 (0.5%)	35 (5.6%)	$16,205			$2,333			$13,872	43	39	1508	117		062460003307

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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

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