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
1412	Columbia Middle	Public	6-8	739 Morse Ave.	Sunnyvale	94085	Santa Clara County	Sunnyvale	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 522-8247	697	41	16.9	30.3%	107 (15.4%)	6 (0.9%)	376 (53.9%)	122 (17.5%)	20 (2.9%)	14 (2.0%)	50 (7.2%)	$24,718			$1,708			$23,010	42.4	39.5	1480	68		063846006464
1413	Ben F. Kolb Middle	Public	6-8	2351 North Spruce St.	Rialto	92377	San Bernardino County	Rialto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 820-7849	917	37	24.9	81.5%	27 (2.9%)	106 (11.6%)	743 (81.0%)	8 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.7%)	24 (2.6%)	$20,290			$3,346			$16,944	42.4	35.3	1613	200		063237004994
1414	Winship Middle	Public	6-8	2500 Cypress Ave.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	Eureka City Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 441-2487	413	22	18.9	59.1%	198 (47.9%)	4 (1.0%)	102 (24.7%)	41 (9.9%)	21 (5.1%)	4 (1.0%)	43 (10.4%)	$16,829			$1,926			$14,903	42.4	35.1	1618	204		060005213158
1415	Rosecrans Elementary	Public	K-8	1301 North Acacia Ave.	Compton	90227	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6360	459	18	24.9	93.2%	0 (0.0%)	43 (9.4%)	413 (90.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$22,201			$4,012			$18,189	42.4	31.1	1764	349		060962000995
1416	Cesar E. Chavez Middle	Public	6-8	161 South Plainsburg Rd.	Planada	95365	Merced County	Planada Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 382-0768	305	17	17.4	89.8%	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	299 (98.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$25,189			$19,459			$5,730	42.4	45.5	1298	118		063084010555
1417	Middletown Middle	Public	6-8	15846 Wardlaw St.	Middletown	95461	Lake County	Middletown Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 987-4160	320	15	20.9	53.4%	185 (57.8%)	3 (0.9%)	106 (33.1%)	2 (0.6%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.9%)	$14,285			$1,153			$13,132	42.4	42	1393	24		062475009155
1418	High Technical Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	2359 Truxtun Rd.	San Diego	92106	San Diego County	High Technical Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 814-5060	324	19	16.8	43.8%	75 (23.1%)	21 (6.5%)	180 (55.6%)	27 (8.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.6%)	$12,785			$771			$12,014	42.3	33.4	1695	277		060180811262
1419	Norwood Junior High	Public	7-8	4601 Norwood Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-2710	450	22	20.6	83.1%	24 (5.3%)	69 (15.3%)	170 (37.8%)	136 (30.2%)	2 (0.4%)	10 (2.2%)	38 (8.4%)	$21,225			$3,411			$17,814	42.3	34.2	1660	241		060133211201
1420	Alder Grove Charter School 2	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	714 F St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Alder Grove Charter School 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 268-0854	481	25	19.5	65.3%	311 (64.7%)	2 (0.4%)	84 (17.5%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (14.1%)	$16,453			$1,656			$14,797	42.3	50.8	1150	270		060207211593
1421	Lillian Larsen Elementary	Public	K-8	1601 L St.	San Miguel	93451	San Luis Obispo County	San Miguel Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 467-3216	448	25	18.1	79.7%	45 (10.0%)	1 (0.2%)	392 (87.5%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	$20,543			$3,093			$17,450	42.3	35.7	1603	182		063501005927

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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:

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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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