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
1752	Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle	Public	6-8	1254 East Helmick St.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 661-4500	341	21	16.1	89.7%	5 (1.5%)	194 (56.9%)	125 (36.7%)	3 (0.9%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	10 (2.9%)	$34,372			$6,547			$27,825	32.1	30.5	1791	39		062271002944
1753	Rialto Middle	Public	6-8	1262 West Rialto Ave.	Rialto	92376	San Bernardino County	Rialto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 879-7308	1,017	46	21.8	87.9%	11 (1.1%)	90 (8.8%)	888 (87.3%)	10 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	15 (1.5%)	$20,125			$3,255			$16,870	32.1	30.1	1810	57		063237004998
1754	Madison Middle	Public	6-8	4930 Lake Blvd.	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 940-0176	1,158	61	19.1	68.7%	268 (23.1%)	20 (1.7%)	756 (65.3%)	27 (2.3%)	5 (0.4%)	9 (0.8%)	72 (6.2%)	$16,667			$2,168			$14,499	32	31.5	1750	4		064119003968
1755	Allegiance STEAM Academy - Thrive Fontana	Public, Charter	K-8	7420 North Locust Ave.	Fontana	92336	San Bernardino County	Allegiance STEAM Academy - Thrive Fontana District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 465-5405	245	12	19.9	41.2%	16 (6.5%)	25 (10.2%)	178 (72.7%)	12 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.0%)	9 (3.7%)	$19,580			$1,181			$18,399	32	28.2	1898	143		069113814669
1756	Grunsky Elementary	Public	K-8	1550 North School St.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7200	456	18	25.2	90.1%	21 (4.6%)	10 (2.2%)	376 (82.5%)	28 (6.1%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.1%)	15 (3.3%)	$15,561			$3,534			$12,027	32	16.6	2412	656		063801006413
1757	Twin Ridges Home Study Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	111 New Mohawk Rd.	Nevada City	95959	Nevada County	Nevada County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 478-1815	208	11	19.2	48.1%	163 (78.4%)	3 (1.4%)	15 (7.2%)	1 (0.5%)	4 (1.9%)	1 (0.5%)	21 (10.1%)	$12,227			$462			$11,765	31.9	50.9	1143	614		069102311877
1758	Santa Barbara Junior High	Public	7-8	721 East Cota St.	Santa Barbara	93103	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 963-7751	512	32	16	79.7%	65 (12.7%)	3 (0.6%)	425 (83.0%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.9%)	$19,046			$1,527			$17,519	31.9	35.1	1623	135		060141406030
1759	Bennett/Kew Leadership Academy of Excellence	Public	K-8	11710 South Cherry Ave.	Inglewood	90303	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5400	487	18	26.9	92.2%	7 (1.4%)	129 (26.5%)	332 (68.2%)	6 (1.2%)	4 (0.8%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)								31.9	25.2	2027	268		061839002247
1760	Flora Arca Mata	Public	K-8	5600 Alexandria Pl.	Stockton	95207	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7000	487	19	25.1	80.1%	21 (4.3%)	87 (17.9%)	284 (58.3%)	63 (12.9%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)	23 (4.7%)	$13,770			$3,001			$10,769	31.9	30	1815	55		063801014471
1761	Delta Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	31400 South Koster Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	New Jerusalem Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-6363	772	49	15.8	52.3%	227 (29.4%)	36 (4.7%)	402 (52.1%)	28 (3.6%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.2%)	64 (8.3%)	$16,798			$495			$16,303	31.9	39.8	1471	290		062703010391

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.