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
801	Templeton Middle	Public	6-8	925 Old County Rd.	Templeton	93465	San Luis Obispo County	Templeton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 434-5813	478	23	20.4	18.2%	291 (60.9%)	0 (0.0%)	112 (23.4%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (14.2%)	$14,549			$861			$13,688	64.2	70.3	680	121		063900008996
802	Palm Desert Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	74-200 Rutledge Way	Palm Desert	92260	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 862-4320	1,298	47	27.6	61.4%	444 (34.2%)	20 (1.5%)	669 (51.5%)	78 (6.0%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	82 (6.3%)	$13,492			$411			$13,081	64.2	68.2	719	83		061111001231
803	Rosedale Middle	Public	7-8	12463 Rosedale Hwy.	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Rosedale Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 588-6030	810	38	21	29.6%	362 (44.7%)	19 (2.3%)	337 (41.6%)	49 (6.0%)	7 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	35 (4.3%)	$12,795			$46			$12,749	64.1	77.9	530	273		063348005174
804	Los Nietos Middle	Public	7-8	11425 East Rivera Rd.	Los Nietos	90606	Los Angeles County	Los Nietos	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 695-0637	262	15	18	89.3%	2 (0.8%)	2 (0.8%)	251 (95.8%)	5 (1.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$26,524			$2,918			$23,606	64.1	54.1	1038	234		062289003500
805	Chet F. Harritt Elementary	Public	K-8	8120 Arlette St.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 258-4800	606	24	25.4	46.4%	288 (47.5%)	19 (3.1%)	200 (33.0%)	23 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	75 (12.4%)	$16,153			$862			$15,291	64	62.6	825	20		063588006140
806	Uncharted Shores Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-9	330 E St.	Crescent City	95531	Del Norte County	Uncharted Shores Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 464-9828	283	13	21.6	57.2%	190 (67.1%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (16.3%)	6 (2.1%)	14 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (9.2%)	$13,447			$2,690			$10,757	63.9	64.2	800	6		060155611883
807	Moore Middle	Public	6-8	1550 East Highland Ave.	Redlands	92374	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-5440	988	50	19.6	57.3%	281 (28.4%)	39 (3.9%)	533 (53.9%)	66 (6.7%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	63 (6.4%)	$17,613			$1,881			$15,732	63.9	51.8	1117	310		063207004944
808	Aromas	Public	K-8	365 Vega St.	Aromas	95004	Monterey County	Aromas - San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 726-5100	399	19	21	51.4%	99 (24.8%)	0 (0.0%)	282 (70.7%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.3%)	$18,709			$3,118			$15,591	63.9	56.3	983	175		069113610298
809	KIPP Comienza Community Prep	Public, Charter	K-8	6410 Rita Ave.	Huntington Park	90255	Los Angeles County	KIPP Comienza Community Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 886-2355	1,075	46	23.6	88.0%	3 (0.3%)	12 (1.1%)	1,049 (97.6%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.5%)	$21,941			$2,679			$19,262	63.9	61.2	860	51		060154412705
810	Epic California Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	100 South Anaheim Blvd. Ste. 1	Anaheim	92805	Orange County	Epic California Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(657) 220-1000	1,022	40	25.2	45.4%	197 (19.3%)	154 (15.1%)	470 (46.0%)	27 (2.6%)	4 (0.4%)	34 (3.3%)	136 (13.3%)	$13,265			$697			$12,568	63.8	34.3	1655	845		060151914018

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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.