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
1442	Seeley Elementary	Public	K-8	1812 West Rio Vista St.	Seeley	92273	Imperial County	Seeley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-3571	325	15	21.6	93.2%	14 (4.3%)	3 (0.9%)	294 (90.5%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.2%)	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.2%)	$24,212			$3,043			$21,169	41.7	30.3	1801	359		063621006180
1443	Salida Middle School - Vella Campus	Public	6-8	5041 Toomes Rd.	Salida	95368	Stanislaus County	Salida Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 545-1633	673	37	18	79.8%	107 (15.9%)	18 (2.7%)	466 (69.2%)	45 (6.7%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.9%)	28 (4.2%)	$19,141			$1,584			$17,557	41.7	40.4	1445	2		063390011496
1444	Ida Jew Academies	Public, Charter	K-8	1966 Flint Ave.	San Jose	95148	Santa Clara County	Mount Pleasant Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 223-3750	435	22	19.9	69.2%	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.6%)	393 (90.3%)	20 (4.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	$23,520			$2,868			$20,652	41.7	40.8	1434	10		062640001486
1445	Roosevelt Junior High	Public	7-8	1330 College Ave.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1930	818	38	21.7	74.7%	165 (20.2%)	28 (3.4%)	476 (58.2%)	47 (5.7%)	5 (0.6%)	8 (1.0%)	89 (10.9%)	$22,228			$2,950			$19,278	41.6	38.2	1526	81		062513003748
1446	Samueli Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	1901 North Fairview St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Samueli Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 619-0245	842	40	21.2	74.3%	43 (5.1%)	9 (1.1%)	691 (82.1%)	65 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.2%)	$18,502			$978			$17,524	41.6	50.3	1165	281		060205113076
1447	Stonegate Elementary	Public	K-8	2605 Gassmann Dr.	San Jose	95121	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5625	500	23	21.5	76.0%	10 (2.0%)	8 (1.6%)	276 (55.2%)	201 (40.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$25,137			$4,387			$20,750	41.5	52.8	1077	370		061437001652
1448	Lake View Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3101 Zinfandel Dr. Ste. 350	Rancho Cordova	95670	Glenn County	Lake View Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 957-5877	969	28	34.6	56.2%	706 (72.9%)	12 (1.2%)	140 (14.4%)	6 (0.6%)	5 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (10.1%)	$14,368			$481			$13,887	41.5	25.2	2025	577		060252014428
1449	Alliance Kory Hunter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	5886 Compton Ave.	Los Angeles	90001	Los Angeles County	Alliance Kory Hunter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 484-0450	470	26	18.3	97.0%	6 (1.3%)	12 (2.6%)	449 (95.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$18,991			$3,274			$15,717	41.5	29.5	1828	379		060154213487
1450	Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Academy	Public	K-8	200 Phillips Dr.	Sausalito	94965	Marin County	Sausalito Marin City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 332-1024	262	19	14.1	53.4%	74 (28.2%)	73 (27.9%)	61 (23.3%)	21 (8.0%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (11.5%)	$51,216			$6,495			$44,721	41.5	24.9	2036	586		063600006162
1451	Gladys Poet-Christian Elementary	Public	K-8	1701 South Central Ave.	Tracy	95376	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3325	555	26	21.2	67.2%	96 (17.3%)	34 (6.1%)	273 (49.2%)	108 (19.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	41 (7.4%)	$15,425			$1,606			$13,819	41.5	37.1	1564	113		060004707398

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.