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
41	Huntington Middle	Public	6-8	1700 Huntington Dr.	San Marino	91108	Los Angeles County	San Marino Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 299-7060	709	31	23	14.4%	122 (17.2%)	2 (0.3%)	40 (5.6%)	467 (65.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	77 (10.9%)	$17,097			$287			$16,810	98.2	99	17	24		063486005885
42	Renaissance Arts Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2558 North San Fernando Rd.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Renaissance Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 259-5700	475	26	18.5	63.6%	115 (24.2%)	46 (9.7%)	237 (49.9%)	54 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	13 (2.7%)	$17,689			$2,022			$15,667	98.1	98	52	10		060176611314
43	Piedmont Middle	Public	6-8	740 Magnolia Ave.	Piedmont	94611	Alameda County	Piedmont City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 594-2668	575	33	17.3	5.7%	283 (49.2%)	13 (2.3%)	62 (10.8%)	95 (16.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	119 (20.7%)	$19,905			$1,217			$18,688	98.1	98.3	37	6		063033004732
44	Gale Ranch Middle	Public	6-8	6400 Main Branch Rd.	San Ramon	94582	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-1500	971	43	22.7	9.8%	75 (7.7%)	25 (2.6%)	80 (8.2%)	732 (75.4%)	6 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	52 (5.4%)	$14,384			$303			$14,081	98.1	97.7	69	25		063513012300
45	Sunol Glen Elementary	Public	K-8	11601 Main St.	Sunol	94586	Alameda County	Sunol Glen Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 862-2026	240	13	18.9	9.6%	78 (32.5%)	1 (0.4%)	38 (15.8%)	92 (38.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	30 (12.5%)	$17,803			$242			$17,561	98.1	97.9	60	15		060002109291
46	Design 39 Campus	Public	K-8	17050 Del Sur Ridge Rd.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 676-6639	1,216	52	23.5	6.9%	357 (29.4%)	13 (1.1%)	118 (9.7%)	580 (47.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	146 (12.0%)	$14,738			$639			$14,099	98.1	98.2	40	6		063153013729
47	R. Roger Rowe Middle	Public	6-8	5927 La Granada	Rancho Santa Fe	92067	San Diego County	Rancho Santa Fe Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 756-1141	189	17	11	6.3%	127 (67.2%)	2 (1.1%)	23 (12.2%)	16 (8.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (10.6%)	$16,318			$00			$16,318	98	97	89	42		063174004911
48	Orchard Hills	Public	K-8	11555 Culver Dr.	Irvine	92602	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2078	1,373	50	27.5	25.1%	208 (15.1%)	11 (0.8%)	121 (8.8%)	893 (65.0%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	135 (9.8%)	$14,581			$1,347			$13,234	98	97.9	54	6		064015012571
49	Mt. Everest Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	4350 Mt. Everest Blvd.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 605-8700	232	12	19.1	28.0%	116 (50.0%)	2 (0.9%)	42 (18.1%)	33 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	37 (15.9%)	$23,429			$1,960			$21,469	98	98	50	1		063432009437
50	Ridgecrest Intermediate	Public	6-8	28915 Northbay Rd.	Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 544-2747	881	36	24.3	10.3%	190 (21.6%)	22 (2.5%)	94 (10.7%)	472 (53.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	101 (11.5%)	$14,788			$508			$14,280	98	98.1	44	6		062970008514

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.