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
301	Sierra Madre Middle	Public	6-8	160 North Canon Ave.	Sierra Madre	91024	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5910	597	25	23.5	39.2%	198 (33.2%)	28 (4.7%)	181 (30.3%)	116 (19.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	72 (12.1%)	$24,983			$3,980			$21,003	88.6	89.9	280	21		062994013343
302	Taylor Middle	Public	6-8	850 Taylor Blvd.	Millbrae	94030	San Mateo County	Millbrae Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 697-4096	756	34	22.3	18.5%	89 (11.8%)	2 (0.3%)	152 (20.1%)	428 (56.6%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (1.1%)	73 (9.7%)	$15,460			$1,586			$13,874	88.5	90	278	24		062490003722
303	Black Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	9353 Oviedo St.	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 484-1300	1,077	47	22.6	20.7%	379 (35.2%)	33 (3.1%)	222 (20.6%)	299 (27.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	141 (13.1%)	$15,540			$723			$14,817	88.4	89.3	293	10		063153004884
304	Beverly Vista Middle	Public	6-8	200 South Elm Dr.	Beverly Hills	90212	Los Angeles County	Beverly Hills Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 229-3665	687	52	13.2	30.4%	441 (64.2%)	16 (2.3%)	55 (8.0%)	95 (13.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	76 (11.1%)	$51,410			$1,969			$49,441	88.4	87	342	38		060483000472
305	Ramona Elementary	Public	K-8	509 West Norwood Pl.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3660	650	26	24.7	60.0%	13 (2.0%)	3 (0.5%)	259 (39.8%)	353 (54.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.2%)	$12,822			$1,391			$11,431	88.4	85.8	372	67		060015310943
306	Old Town Academy K-8 Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2120 San Diego Ave.	San Diego	92110	San Diego County	Old Town Academy K-8 Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 574-6225	194	12	16.1	28.4%	43 (22.2%)	18 (9.3%)	89 (45.9%)	8 (4.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (18.0%)	$17,089			$233			$16,856	88.4	83.3	411	105		060200212786
307	Herman (Leonard) Intermediate	Public	5-8	5955 Blossom Ave.	San Jose	95123	Santa Clara County	Oak Grove Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 226-1886	723	32	22.3	31.1%	134 (18.5%)	21 (2.9%)	274 (37.9%)	234 (32.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.8%)	54 (7.5%)	$17,060			$1,103			$15,957	88.3	87.4	337	30		062781004216
308	Oak Crest Middle	Public	7-8	675 Balour Dr.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 753-6241	758	34	22.2	22.4%	459 (60.6%)	5 (0.7%)	186 (24.5%)	21 (2.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	84 (11.1%)	$15,637			$658			$14,979	88.3	87	343	35		063438005576
309	La Colina Junior High	Public	7-8	4025 Foothill Rd.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-4506	832	42	19.8	41.5%	408 (49.0%)	2 (0.2%)	333 (40.0%)	27 (3.2%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	55 (6.6%)	$16,429			$1,377			$15,052	88.3	87.7	329	20		060141406022
310	Innovations Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	5454 Ruffin Rd.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	Innovations Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 271-1414	436	23	18.9	41.7%	197 (45.2%)	10 (2.3%)	125 (28.7%)	29 (6.7%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.7%)	70 (16.1%)	$14,791			$700			$14,091	88.3	79.8	481	171		060162712261

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.