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
1802	Palm Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	1017 Palm Ave.	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Wasco Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 758-7130	631	29	21.4	89.1%	8 (1.3%)	7 (1.1%)	613 (97.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,570			$1,014			$18,556	31	29.6	1824	22		064140006846
1803	San Jose Elementary	Public	K-8	2015 Cadillac Dr.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4670	511	30	17	90.2%	11 (2.2%)	52 (10.2%)	417 (81.6%)	15 (2.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.7%)	$19,957			$2,207			$17,750	30.9	33.2	1698	105		063132004860
1804	Weaver Middle	Public	6-8	3076 East Childs Ave.	Merced	95341	Merced County	Weaver Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 723-2174	1,073	48	22.1	93.7%	83 (7.7%)	40 (3.7%)	744 (69.3%)	165 (15.4%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.4%)	33 (3.1%)	$17,133			$2,743			$14,390	30.8	29.3	1842	38		064188006871
1805	University Heights Middle	Public	7-8	1155 Massachusetts Ave.	Riverside	92507	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7388	870	39	22.5	91.4%	56 (6.4%)	53 (6.1%)	697 (80.1%)	33 (3.8%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	23 (2.6%)	$18,541			$1,368			$17,173	30.7	28.4	1885	80		063315005160
1806	Shasta Elementary	Public	K-8	751 East Edison St.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7400	726	29	24.8	78.9%	123 (16.9%)	18 (2.5%)	517 (71.2%)	35 (4.8%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.8%)	24 (3.3%)	$14,642			$1,934			$12,708	30.7	31.9	1735	71		062361003588
1807	Bill E. Young Junior Middle	Public	5-8	220 South International Blvd.	Calipatria	92233	Imperial County	Calipatria Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 348-2842	322	20	15.8	90.7%	15 (4.7%)	12 (3.7%)	292 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$17,811			$2,843			$14,968	30.6	28.1	1902	95		060699000644
1808	Vejar Elementary	Public	K-8	950 West Grand Ave.	Pomona	91766	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4985	741	34	21.7	95.3%	8 (1.1%)	22 (3.0%)	671 (90.6%)	30 (4.0%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.9%)	$19,817			$2,443			$17,374	30.6	26.8	1960	152		063132010000
1809	Golden Valley Middle	Public	6-8	3800 Waterman Ave.	San Bernardino	92404	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 881-8168	742	37	20	95.0%	25 (3.4%)	74 (10.0%)	619 (83.4%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	17 (2.3%)	$22,820			$4,935			$17,885	30.5	34.6	1645	164		063417005361
1810	Barbara Worth Junior High	Public	6-8	385 D St.	Brawley	92227	Imperial County	Brawley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 344-2153	881	41	21.5	86.6%	23 (2.6%)	6 (0.7%)	844 (95.8%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$10,747			$1,306			$9,441	30.5	25.7	2011	201		060579000520
1811	Bret Harte Middle	Public	7-8	1047 E St.	Hayward	94540	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3100	465	21	21.9	76.6%	27 (5.8%)	79 (17.0%)	259 (55.7%)	43 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.4%)	41 (8.8%)	$24,003			$2,877			$21,126	30.5	35	1624	187		061674002105

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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