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
1522	Park View Middle	Public	6-8	34875 Tahoe Dr.	Yucaipa	92399	San Bernardino County	Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 790-3285	870	36	23.9	67.4%	331 (38.0%)	10 (1.1%)	482 (55.4%)	12 (1.4%)	7 (0.8%)	4 (0.5%)	24 (2.8%)	$15,384			$1,964			$13,420	38.9	35.6	1606	84		064356001137
1523	Bunche Middle	Public	6-8	12338 Mona Blvd.	Compton	90222	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6010	286	11	25.2	93.4%	1 (0.3%)	46 (16.1%)	233 (81.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.4%)	$25,914			$4,477			$21,437	38.9	24.1	2079	556		060962000971
1524	Arcohe Elementary	Public	K-8	11755 Ivie Rd.	Herald	95638	Sacramento County	Arcohe Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 748-2313	560	22	25.5	31.1%	240 (42.9%)	5 (0.9%)	238 (42.5%)	9 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (11.6%)	$16,579			$3,528			$13,051	38.8	54.6	1026	498		060306000241
1525	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory	Public, Charter	K-8	2950 Fair Oaks Ave.	Redwood City	94063	San Mateo County	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 465-5477	711	37	19.1	91.0%	9 (1.3%)	8 (1.1%)	672 (94.5%)	5 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	11 (1.5%)	3 (0.4%)	$41,598			$2,922			$38,676	38.8	41.3	1420	105		060203013874
1526	George De La Torre Junior Elementary	Public	K-8	500 North Island Ave.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 847-1400	598	32	18.6	98.5%	14 (2.3%)	9 (1.5%)	571 (95.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,973			$5,798			$18,175	38.8	23.8	2100	574		062271011644
1527	Live Oak Middle	Public	7-8	980 North Laspina St.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Tulare City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 685-7310	458	21	22.2	65.5%	102 (22.3%)	8 (1.7%)	327 (71.4%)	12 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	6 (1.3%)	$18,963			$3,330			$15,633	38.8	42.9	1375	152		063987009647
1528	Norman N. Glick Middle	Public	7-8	400 Frazine Rd.	Modesto	95357	Stanislaus County	Empire Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 577-3945	602	29	20.6	80.6%	105 (17.4%)	23 (3.8%)	414 (68.8%)	35 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	18 (3.0%)	$17,306			$2,730			$14,576	38.7	28.7	1868	340		061269011171
1529	Leona Jackson	Public	6-8	7220 Jackson St.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8020	517	32	16.2	97.1%	3 (0.6%)	130 (25.1%)	355 (68.7%)	13 (2.5%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	12 (2.3%)	$23,072			$2,701			$20,371	38.7	29.4	1840	311		062985010906
1530	San Antonio Elementary	Public	K-8	67550 Lockwood/Jolon Rd.	Lockwood	93932	Monterey County	San Antonio Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 385-3051	134	9	14.8	40.3%	54 (40.3%)	3 (2.2%)	66 (49.3%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.7%)	$15,651			$2,328			$13,323	38.6	27.6	1918	388		063405005342
1531	Washington Middle	Public	7-8	560 Iverson St.	Salinas	93901	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7100	1,082	51	21.2	81.7%	62 (5.7%)	9 (0.8%)	977 (90.3%)	19 (1.8%)	9 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	$17,463			$1,751			$15,712	38.6	42.4	1386	145		063398005337

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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