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
941	Paragon Collegiate Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1608 Sampson St.	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	Paragon Collegiate Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 742-2505	208	9	23.1	70.7%	84 (40.4%)	6 (2.9%)	92 (44.2%)	3 (1.4%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (9.1%)	$16,243			$3,590			$12,653	58.4	41.6	1408	467		060205512661
942	Ernest Lawrence Middle	Public	6-8	10100 Variel Ave.	Chatsworth	91311	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 678-7900	1,076	52	20.8	69.7%	139 (12.9%)	46 (4.3%)	617 (57.3%)	222 (20.6%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (4.6%)	$19,209			$3,434			$15,775	58.4	50.5	1155	213		062271003128
943	Ballico-Cressey Community Charter	Public, Charter	1-8	11818 Gregg St.	Ballico	95303	Merced County	Ballico-Cressey Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 394-9400	293	18	16.4	46.4%	84 (28.7%)	1 (0.3%)	197 (67.2%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.4%)	$14,011			$424			$13,587	58.3	36.8	1572	629		060375000344
944	Circle of Independent Learning	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4700 Calaveras Ave.	Fremont	94538	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 797-0100	394	17	23.7	46.2%	50 (12.7%)	20 (5.1%)	102 (25.9%)	195 (49.5%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.3%)	17 (4.3%)	$22,030			$78			$21,952	58.2	57.4	954	10		061440007479
945	Kathryn Newport Middle	Public	6-8	29792 Audie Murphy Rd.	Menifee	92587	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 672-1851	965	40	24.3	66.9%	204 (21.1%)	41 (4.2%)	554 (57.4%)	45 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	119 (12.3%)	$15,678			$1,215			$14,463	58.1	47.6	1231	286		062454014679
946	Arete Charter Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	K-8	16229 Duggans Rd.	Grass Valley	95949	Nevada County	Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 268-2805	207	9	22.5	32.4%	158 (76.3%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (13.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (9.7%)	$12,996			$163			$12,833	58.1	61.1	861	85		063093014123
947	Union Hill Middle	Public	7-8	11638 Colfax Hwy.	Grass Valley	95945	Nevada County	Union Hill Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 273-8456	146	7	19.7	32.2%	106 (72.6%)	1 (0.7%)	17 (11.6%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (14.4%)	$11,775			$285			$11,490	58.1	69.5	695	252		064038013728
948	Bonita Vista Middle	Public	7-8	650 Otay Lakes Rd.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 397-2200	972	40	24.3	39.4%	106 (10.9%)	27 (2.8%)	705 (72.5%)	84 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	44 (4.5%)								58.1	65.9	770	178		063864006474
949	Monte Vista	Public	K-8	100 Toda Vista Dr.	Monterey	93940	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 392-3890	688	29	23.6	45.9%	305 (44.3%)	24 (3.5%)	261 (37.9%)	33 (4.8%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.3%)	55 (8.0%)	$21,279			$2,145			$19,134	58	49	1196	247		062553012851
950	Santa Margarita Elementary	Public	K-8	1 Carnes Rd.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-7900	544	25	22	66.2%	186 (34.2%)	44 (8.1%)	235 (43.2%)	14 (2.6%)	2 (0.4%)	5 (0.9%)	58 (10.7%)	$11,368			$1,438			$9,930	58	48	1214	264		062825004373

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.