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
1211	Sussman (Edward A.) Middle	Public	6-8	12500 Birchdale Ave.	Downey	90242	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3572	1,240	59	20.9	84.7%	34 (2.7%)	39 (3.1%)	1,130 (91.1%)	25 (2.0%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	8 (0.6%)	$18,654			$3,228			$15,426	48.9	46.8	1255	44		061146001275
1212	Commodore Stockton Skills	Public	K-8	2725 Michigan Ave.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7170	971	41	23.9	61.8%	80 (8.2%)	67 (6.9%)	691 (71.2%)	61 (6.3%)	8 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	57 (5.9%)	$12,909			$2,830			$10,079	48.8	53.8	1047	165		063801006401
1213	Roosevelt Elementary	Public	K-8	461 West Hickory	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-7208	473	19	24.8	82.7%	9 (1.9%)	5 (1.1%)	451 (95.3%)	5 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$23,650			$3,746			$19,904	48.8	38.5	1520	307		062187012765
1214	De Anza Middle	Public	7-8	1450 South Sultana Ave.	Ontario	91761	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 986-8577	510	32	15.8	90.2%	8 (1.6%)	14 (2.7%)	467 (91.6%)	13 (2.5%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.6%)	3 (0.6%)	$26,734			$4,335			$22,399	48.8	43.9	1343	129		062847004393
1215	Mark West Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4600 Lavell Rd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Mark West Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2741	124	7	18.5	49.2%	58 (46.8%)	2 (1.6%)	50 (40.3%)	7 (5.6%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.0%)	$20,141			$1,372			$18,769	48.7	66.4	757	458		062400011479
1216	Plainsburg Union Elementary	Public	K-8	3708 South Plainsburg Rd.	Merced	95341	Merced County	Plainsburg Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 389-4707	113	6	19.4	47.8%	50 (44.2%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (53.1%)	3 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,280			$1,837			$14,443	48.7	69.2	697	519		063081004788
1217	Caruthers Elementary	Public	K-8	13699 South Quince	Caruthers	93609	Fresno County	Caruthers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 864-6500	836	46	18.2	88.5%	72 (8.6%)	4 (0.5%)	727 (87.0%)	26 (3.1%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	$20,620			$3,015			$17,605	48.6	41.7	1403	186		060006700730
1218	American Canyon Middle	Public	6-8	300 Benton Way	American Canyon	94503	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 259-8592	1,074	43	25.2	66.9%	101 (9.4%)	77 (7.2%)	481 (44.8%)	297 (27.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.7%)	109 (10.1%)	$15,344			$1,430			$13,914	48.6	46.8	1253	35		062664007575
1219	Izaak Walton Intermediate	Public	7-8	12181 Buaro St.	Garden Grove	92840	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6040	458	21	21.7	91.0%	16 (3.5%)	5 (1.1%)	346 (75.5%)	86 (18.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	$18,912			$2,202			$16,710	48.5	52.7	1085	134		061488000753
1220	Encinal Elementary	Public	K-8	6484 Larkin Rd.	Live Oak	95953	Sutter County	Live Oak Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 695-5458	111	5	22.2	52.3%	45 (40.5%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (46.8%)	10 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.6%)	$18,004			$938			$17,066	48.5			(n/a)		062205002613

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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

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