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
1782	Thurgood Marshall Elementary	Public	K-8	2900 Thurgood Marshall Dr.	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1557	702	35	19.9	74.8%	43 (6.1%)	25 (3.6%)	591 (84.2%)	30 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (1.9%)	$26,446			$2,481			$23,965	31.4	23.8	2097	315		062922011374
1783	Shandon Elementary	Public	K-8	301 South First St.	Shandon	93461	San Luis Obispo County	Shandon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 238-1782	167	10	16.1	65.3%	18 (10.8%)	2 (1.2%)	145 (86.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$23,794			$2,404			$21,390	31.4	12.9	2555	772		063645006202
1784	Lemon Grove Academy for the Sciences and Humanities	Public	6-8	7866 Lincoln St.	Lemon Grove	91945	San Diego County	Lemon Grove	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 825-5628	516	26	20.2	80.4%	45 (8.7%)	59 (11.4%)	340 (65.9%)	30 (5.8%)	9 (1.7%)	4 (0.8%)	29 (5.6%)	$20,711			$2,902			$17,809	31.4	32	1732	52		062133002549
1785	Bell Gardens Intermediate	Public	6-8	5841 Live Oak St.	Bell Gardens	90201	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 927-1319	790	42	18.9	93.4%	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	786 (99.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$13,270			$1,141			$12,129	31.3	30.2	1807	22		062547003791
1786	Pathways to College K8	Public, Charter	K-8	10127 3rd Ave	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Pathways to College K8 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 949-8002	431	22	19.6	68.9%	29 (6.7%)	45 (10.4%)	354 (82.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$22,318			$7,837			$14,481	31.3	22.3	2157	371		060147511746
1787	Roseland Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1691 Burbank Ave.	Santa Rosa	95407	Sonoma County	Roseland Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 545-0102	1,254	67	18.7	89.3%	19 (1.5%)	9 (0.7%)	1,182 (94.3%)	16 (1.3%)	9 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (1.4%)	$20,671			$5,456			$15,215	31.2	30.8	1778	9		060233411178
1788	Catherine L. Zane Middle	Public	6-8	2155 S St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Eureka City Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 441-2470	417	21	20.3	63.1%	143 (34.3%)	6 (1.4%)	137 (32.9%)	31 (7.4%)	20 (4.8%)	6 (1.4%)	74 (17.7%)	$16,983			$1,890			$15,093	31.2	41.1	1426	362		060005201476
1789	Accelerated	Public, Charter	K-8	4000 South Main St.	Los Angeles	90037	Los Angeles County	Accelerated District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 235-6343	729	37	19.8	88.9%	7 (1.0%)	4 (0.5%)	718 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,261			$551			$16,710	31.2	33.6	1682	107		060173203245
1790	Anthony W. Ochoa Middle	Public	7-8	2121 Depot Rd.	Hayward	94545	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3130	405	20	19.8	76.0%	12 (3.0%)	20 (4.9%)	245 (60.5%)	88 (21.7%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.7%)	24 (5.9%)	$25,677			$3,303			$22,374	31.2	30.3	1799	9		061674009847
1791	EV Cain Middle	Public	K-8	150 Palm Ave.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Auburn Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 823-6106	411	24	17	69.1%	228 (55.5%)	4 (1.0%)	139 (33.8%)	2 (0.5%)	9 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.1%)	$15,705			$1,116			$14,589	31.2	35	1627	164		060348000265

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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