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
1942	Rudolph Rivera Middle	Public	7-8	945 Buena Vista Dr.	Merced	95348	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6680	608	21	28.7	81.7%	60 (9.9%)	45 (7.4%)	368 (60.5%)	106 (17.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	25 (4.1%)	$17,480			$2,679			$14,801	26.5	29.5	1829	113		062460003695
1943	Windmill Springs Elementary	Public	K-8	2880 Aetna Way	San Jose	95121	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5600	598	30	19.9	74.7%	13 (2.2%)	3 (0.5%)	143 (23.9%)	431 (72.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.2%)	$25,362			$4,319			$21,043	26.4	39.2	1494	449		061437008840
1944	Kamala Elementary	Public	K-8	634 West Kamala St.	Oxnard	93033	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1548	842	39	21.4	95.8%	10 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	828 (98.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$22,199			$2,263			$19,936	26.4	22.5	2144	200		062922004508
1945	Desert Ridge Academy	Public	6-8	79-767 Avenue 39	Indio	92203	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 393-5500	962	41	23.6	81.5%	81 (8.4%)	13 (1.4%)	815 (84.7%)	16 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	32 (3.3%)	$19,602			$3,156			$16,446	26.3	19.6	2278	333		061111012396
1946	Rivera Middle	Public	6-8	7200 Citronell Ave.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7580	544	24	22.2	86.9%	6 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	533 (98.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,910			$1,177			$18,733	26.2	27.9	1907	39		061218001382
1947	Kohler Tk-8	Public	K-8	4004 Bruce Way	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1850	400	17	23.1	87.3%	58 (14.5%)	49 (12.3%)	237 (59.3%)	16 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	39 (9.8%)	$18,353			$3,019			$15,334	26.2	17.6	2365	418		060133205100
1948	Mountain View Middle	Public	6-8	13130 Morrison St.	Moreno Valley	92555	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 571-4240	1,114	52	21.5	87.1%	64 (5.7%)	129 (11.6%)	823 (73.9%)	53 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.5%)	39 (3.5%)	$20,437			$2,362			$18,075	26.1	26	1998	50		062580009405
1949	Kerman Middle	Public	7-8	601 South First St.	Kerman	93630	Fresno County	Kerman Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 843-9600	810	36	22.4	89.0%	44 (5.4%)	5 (0.6%)	728 (89.9%)	29 (3.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$16,029			$1,309			$14,720	26.1	34.7	1641	308		061949008868
1950	Parkview Elementary	Public	K-8	12044 Elliott Ave.	El Monte	91732	Los Angeles County	Mountain View Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 652-4800	920	46	19.9	90.9%	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	862 (93.7%)	56 (6.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$26,564			$6,724			$19,840	26.1	21.9	2177	227		062619003919
1951	Pinole Middle	Public	7-8	1575 Mann Dr.	Pinole	94564	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1436	381	15	25.1	80.1%	36 (9.4%)	46 (12.1%)	199 (52.2%)	77 (20.2%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	19 (5.0%)	$6,780			$1,755			$5,025	26	21.8	2184	233		063255005051

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.