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
1982	Ethan A Chase Middle	Public	6-8	28100 Calm Horizon Dr.	Menifee	92585	Riverside County	Romoland Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 926-9244	1,447	58	24.7	74.8%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,255			$2,282			$13,973	25.4	27.4	1926	56		063339012127
1983	Dos Caminos Dual Immersion	Public	K-8	39066 Palm Tree Way	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 947-1849	945	38	24.5	74.5%	27 (2.9%)	38 (4.0%)	861 (91.1%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.2%)	$17,236			$2,520			$14,716	25.4	31.8	1740	243		062958012870
1984	Tomales Elementary	Public	K-8	40 John St.	Tomales	94971	Marin County	Shoreline Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 878-2214	160	10	16	72.5%	57 (35.6%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (64.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$32,143			$1,020			$31,123	25.4	23	2125	141		063667006216
1985	McFarland Junior High	Public	7-8	405 Mast Ave.	Mc Farland	93250	Kern County	McFarland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 792-3340	494	22	22.1	88.1%	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	488 (98.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$17,003			$2,765			$14,238	25.3	22.4	2152	167		062423008898
1986	Scandinavian Middle	Public	7-8	3216 North Sierra Vista	Fresno	93726	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6510	836	42	19.9	95.2%	31 (3.7%)	51 (6.1%)	550 (65.8%)	173 (20.7%)	6 (0.7%)	5 (0.6%)	20 (2.4%)	$19,457			$2,879			$16,578	25.3	24.8	2041	55		061455001764
1987	Del Dios Academy of Arts and Sciences	Public	6-8	1400 West Ninth Ave.	Escondido	92029	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2439	788	45	17.6	91.1%	49 (6.2%)	6 (0.8%)	685 (86.9%)	19 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (3.7%)								25.3	23.5	2106	119		061288001453
1988	Motivated Youth Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	500 La Terraza Blvd. #150	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Motivated Youth Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 343-2048	251	14	17.9	77.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,454			$1,251			$18,203	25.3	12.1	2581	593		060163913837
1989	PUC Excel Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1855 North Main St.	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	PUC Excel Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 222-5010	257	16	16.5	91.4%	3 (1.2%)	4 (1.6%)	243 (94.6%)	3 (1.2%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$26,430			$2,870			$23,560	25.3	34.5	1650	339		060210211657
1990	Sun Valley Magnet	Public	6-12	7330 Bakman Ave.	Sun Valley	91352	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 255-5100	1,272	73	17.3	95.2%	70 (5.5%)	15 (1.2%)	1,154 (90.7%)	23 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.4%)	5 (0.4%)	$22,534			$4,535			$17,999	25.2	21.8	2182	192		062271003378
1991	Farmersville Junior High	Public	7-8	650 North Virginia St.	Farmersville	93223	Tulare County	Farmersville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 747-0764	384	20	18.8	91.1%	8 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	374 (97.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,828			$2,337			$18,491	25.2	27.2	1940	51		060003501547

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.