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
951	Chaparral Middle	Public	6-8	280 Poindexter Rd.	Moorpark	93021	Ventura County	Moorpark Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 378-6302	542	25	22	41.9%	163 (30.1%)	11 (2.0%)	317 (58.5%)	31 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.5%)	$16,518			$1,260			$15,258	58	55	1014	63		062569007786
952	Environmental Charter Middle - Inglewood	Public, Charter	6-8	3600 West Imperial Hwy.	Inglewood	90303	Los Angeles County	Environmental Charter Middle - Inglewood District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 793-0157	358	18	20.3	88.5%	0 (0.0%)	36 (10.1%)	315 (88.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.4%)	$20,769			$2,427			$18,342	57.9	58.2	929	23		060154013591
953	Wayne Ruble Middle	Public	6-8	6762 Juniper Ave.	Fontana	92336	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5530	1,394	54	26	77.0%	75 (5.4%)	158 (11.3%)	998 (71.6%)	124 (8.9%)	3 (0.2%)	4 (0.3%)	32 (2.3%)	$25,970			$3,795			$22,175	57.9	52.1	1105	152		061392011096
954	Clarksville Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4818 Golden Foothill Parkway S	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Clarksville Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 957-5802	2,347	82	28.6	35.7%	1,625 (69.2%)	19 (0.8%)	351 (15.0%)	42 (1.8%)	10 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	295 (12.6%)	$13,606			$430			$13,176	57.9	50	1171	217		060197514165
955	West Marin Elementary	Public	2-8	11550 Highway 1	Point Reyes Station	94956	Marin County	Shoreline Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 663-1014	114	7	16.2	73.7%	36 (31.6%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (65.8%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	$31,994			$1,728			$30,266	57.8	55.7	996	41		063667006218
956	Ruth Musser Middle	Public	5-8	10789 Terra Vista Pkwy.	Rancho Cucamonga	91730	San Bernardino County	Central Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 980-1230	941	42	22.4	68.7%	141 (15.0%)	151 (16.0%)	441 (46.9%)	127 (13.5%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	73 (7.8%)	$16,259			$2,491			$13,768	57.8	58.3	924	32		060795001117
957	Orleans Elementary	Public	K-8	38016 Highway 96	Orleans	95556	Humboldt County	Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 625-5600	62	4	15.5	72.6%	11 (17.7%)	2 (3.2%)	4 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (66.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.5%)	$22,318			$18,769			$3,549	57.8			(n/a)		061995002392
958	Oak Grove Elementary/Willowside Middle	Public, Charter	1-8	5299 Hall Rd.	Santa Rosa	95401	Sonoma County	Oak Grove Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 542-0171	708	34	20.5	26.8%	412 (58.2%)	8 (1.1%)	216 (30.5%)	11 (1.6%)	8 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (7.5%)								57.7	73	635	323		062784004226
959	East Bay Innovation Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	3400 Malcolm Ave.	Oakland	94605	Alameda County	East Bay Innovation Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 577-9557	451	26	17.6	40.8%	71 (15.7%)	121 (26.8%)	182 (40.4%)	21 (4.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (11.3%)	$17,614			$606			$17,008	57.7	58.7	915	44		060219213735
960	Atascadero Middle	Public	6-8	6501 Lewis Ave.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 462-4360	845	41	20.6	48.4%	493 (58.3%)	6 (0.7%)	277 (32.8%)	19 (2.2%)	9 (1.1%)	3 (0.4%)	37 (4.4%)	$13,833			$574			$13,259	57.7	51.9	1114	154		060330000248

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.