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
531	La Merced Academy	Public	K-8	724 North Poplar Ave.	Montebello	90640	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 721-5043	665	30	22	73.7%	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	645 (97.0%)	11 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	$13,932			$992			$12,940	77.4	68.4	713	182		062547003799
532	Canyon Middle	Public	6-8	19600 Cull Canyon Rd.	Castro Valley	94552	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 538-8833	1,418	62	23	40.7%	248 (17.5%)	68 (4.8%)	399 (28.1%)	493 (34.8%)	2 (0.1%)	10 (0.7%)	197 (13.9%)	$14,389			$157			$14,232	77.4	77.2	548	16		060780000740
533	Trivium Charter School Voyage	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4597 Hollister Dr.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Trivium Charter School Voyage District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 291-1303	0	9	0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	$14,400			$207			$14,193	77.4	90.1	275	258		060193814237
534	North Terrace Elementary	Public	K-8	141 Santa Rosa Dr.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-7500	771	32	24.3	69.5%	266 (34.5%)	45 (5.8%)	333 (43.2%)	20 (2.6%)	9 (1.2%)	8 (1.0%)	90 (11.7%)	$11,152			$1,199			$9,953	77.3	65.6	778	244		062825004366
535	PUC Community Charter Mid and PUC Community Charter Early College High	Public, Charter	6-12	11500 Eldridge Ave.	Lake View Terrace	91342	Los Angeles County	PUC Community Charter Mid & PUC Community Charter Early Col	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 485-0933	776	38	20.3	86.7%	10 (1.3%)	8 (1.0%)	749 (96.5%)	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$23,625			$3,937			$19,688	77.2	65.2	786	251		060218208027
536	Marguerita Elementary	Public	K-8	1603 South Marguerita Ave.	Alhambra	91803	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3620	445	20	22	54.8%	5 (1.1%)	3 (0.7%)	264 (59.3%)	159 (35.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.1%)	$12,221			$1,265			$10,956	77.2	77.8	531	5		060015310939
537	Calavera Hills Middle	Public	6-8	4104 Tamarack Ave.	Carlsbad	92010	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-6400	655	31	20.8	33.1%	349 (53.3%)	7 (1.1%)	180 (27.5%)	33 (5.0%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	79 (12.1%)	$15,038			$343			$14,695	77.2	82.2	439	98		060750011402
538	Kavod Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	6991 Balboa Ave.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	Kavod Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 386-0887	395	21	18.8	40.3%	182 (46.1%)	42 (10.6%)	113 (28.6%)	24 (6.1%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	31 (7.8%)	$13,593			$940			$12,653	77.1	83.7	405	133		060166213201
539	Academy for Academic Excellence	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	17500 Mana Rd.	Apple Valley	92307	San Bernardino County	Academy for Academic Excellence District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 946-5414	1,489	68	21.8	35.5%	595 (40.0%)	43 (2.9%)	692 (46.5%)	52 (3.5%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (6.9%)	$13,411			$1,097			$12,314	77	77.2	549	10		060191107296
540	Warren T. Eich Middle	Public	6-8	1509 Sierra Gardens Dr.	Roseville	95661	Placer County	Roseville City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 771-1770	939	49	19.1	50.6%	475 (50.6%)	10 (1.1%)	297 (31.6%)	75 (8.0%)	5 (0.5%)	5 (0.5%)	72 (7.7%)	$14,389			$383			$14,006	77	68.6	709	169		063360005185

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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

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.