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
2642	Rosa Parks Elementary	Public	K-8	2250 68th Ave.	Sacramento	95822	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5327	722	35	20.4	81.3%	37 (5.1%)	118 (16.3%)	293 (40.6%)	194 (26.9%)	12 (1.7%)	32 (4.4%)	36 (5.0%)	$22,573			$3,939			$18,634	9.1	11.6	2608	34		063384005231
2643	Clarksburg Middle	Public	7-9	52870 Netherlands Rd.	Clarksburg	95612	Yolo County	River Delta Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 744-1717	171	10	17.2	75.4%	27 (15.8%)	5 (2.9%)	130 (76.0%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.1%)	$17,236			$1,499			$15,737	9.1	11.3	2618	25		063311011731
2644	Tulelake High	Public	7-12	850 Main St.	Tulelake	96134	Siskiyou County	Tulelake Basin Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 667-2292	209	13	15.5	82.3%	36 (17.2%)	0 (0.0%)	163 (78.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.8%)	$12,514			$354			$12,160	9.1	15.4	2465	179		063994006623
2645	Challenger Middle	Public	6-8	41725 North 170th St. East	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Wilsona Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 264-1790	403	19	21.2	84.6%	32 (7.9%)	26 (6.5%)	334 (82.9%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	$8,065			$292			$7,773	9.1	9.6	2679	34		064281009208
2646	Keith McCarthy Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1405 Education Way	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 253-7777	332	18	18.4	78.9%	100 (30.1%)	15 (4.5%)	188 (56.6%)	9 (2.7%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	16 (4.8%)	$15,602			$3,464			$12,138	9.1	10.1	2661	15		060002712094
2647	Romero-Cruz Academy	Public	K-8	2701 West Fifth St.	Santa Ana	92703	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 480-2200	827	47	17.4	95.8%	8 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	803 (97.1%)	11 (1.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,122			$991			$23,131	9	8.4	2708	61		063531007597
2648	Opportunities for Learning - Duarte	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1202-1204 Huntington Dr.	Duarte	91010	Los Angeles County	Opportunities for Learning - Duarte District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 303-2113	224	10	23.1	77.2%	34 (15.2%)	11 (4.9%)	163 (72.8%)	5 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.0%)								9	20.9	2222	426		060182513697
2649	Cesar E. Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	440 Arthur Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 761-7699	548	27	20.3	91.1%	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	541 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								8.9	9.3	2688	39		062949011463
2650	Adelanto Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	17738 Nevada Ave.	Victorville	92394	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 246-8691	85	8	10.9	69.4%	5 (5.9%)	17 (20.0%)	50 (58.8%)	2 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (12.9%)	$22,579			$7,058			$15,521	8.9	10.5	2651	1		060171014369
2651	Shearer Elementary	Public	K-8	1590 Elm St.	Napa	94559	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 253-3508	501	25	20.2	91.4%	30 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	462 (92.2%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$16,784			$2,021			$14,763	8.8	12.2	2575	76		062664004031

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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:

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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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