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
1702	Weaverville Elementary	Public	K-8	31020 State Highway 3	Weaverville	96093	Trinity County	Trinity Alps Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 623-5533	331	20	16.8	67.7%	253 (76.4%)	3 (0.9%)	32 (9.7%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (9.4%)	$20,640			$1,764			$18,876	33.3	45.5	1295	407		060133106872
1703	Ceiba College Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	260 West Riverside Dr.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Ceiba College Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 786-2100	501	31	16.3	76.4%	11 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	484 (96.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$18,004			$3,134			$14,870	33.3	37.1	1562	141		060242812189
1704	Hamilton Tk-8	Public	K-8	5530 Nave Dr.	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-4691	544	26	21.1	82.0%	54 (9.9%)	22 (4.0%)	412 (75.7%)	24 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.7%)	$26,063			$2,425			$23,638	33.2	37.4	1548	156		062772004185
1705	Woodland Elementary	Public	K-8	3394 Woodland Dr.	Mariposa	95338	Mariposa County	Mariposa County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 742-0310	435	23	18.9	64.6%	277 (63.7%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (18.6%)	4 (0.9%)	20 (4.6%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (12.0%)	$15,083			$3,922			$11,161	33.2	45.4	1301	404		062394003607
1706	Eastmont Intermediate	Public	6-8	400 North Bradshawe Ave.	Montebello	90640	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 721-5133	562	26	21.7	91.6%	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	553 (98.4%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,298			$980			$12,318	33.2	27.3	1931	225		062547003795
1707	Hilmar Middle	Public	6-8	7528 North Scholar Way	Hilmar	95324	Merced County	Hilmar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 632-8847	542	28	19.6	66.4%	276 (50.9%)	1 (0.2%)	250 (46.1%)	4 (0.7%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.1%)	$13,827			$1,185			$12,642	33.2	35.1	1617	90		061722009856
1708	Giano Intermediate	Public	7-8	3223 South Giano Ave.	West Covina	91792	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 965-2461	463	23	19.9	94.6%	7 (1.5%)	4 (0.9%)	422 (91.1%)	21 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.7%)	$19,125			$1,616			$17,509	33.2	35	1626	82		063375005200
1709	Greenfield Middle	Public	6-8	1109 Pacheco Rd.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Greenfield Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 837-6110	873	42	21	95.6%	40 (4.6%)	65 (7.4%)	734 (84.1%)	12 (1.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.3%)	$17,323			$2,055			$15,268	33.2	38	1531	178		061605002005
1710	Laytonville Elementary	Public	K-8	150 Ramsey Rd.	Laytonville	95454	Mendocino County	Laytonville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 984-6123	217	11	19.2	74.7%	117 (53.9%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (25.3%)	5 (2.3%)	20 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (9.2%)	$22,066			$2,717			$19,349	33.2	11.9	2592	882		064258007899
1711	Hearthstone	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2280 6th St.	Oroville	95965	Butte County	Butte County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 532-5848	185	12	15	76.2%	108 (58.4%)	1 (0.5%)	40 (21.6%)	1 (0.5%)	6 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (15.1%)	$20,495			$2,416			$18,079	33.1	16.4	2422	711		069100205704

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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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.