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
1301	San Gorgonio Middle	Public	6-8	1591 Cherry Ave.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 769-4391	1,253	58	21.5	75.2%	208 (16.6%)	98 (7.8%)	800 (63.8%)	78 (6.2%)	6 (0.5%)	3 (0.2%)	59 (4.7%)	$17,669			$1,721			$15,948	45.8	37.5	1546	245		060429011013
1302	Telesis Academy of Science & Math	Public	K-8	2800 East Hollingworth St.	West Covina	91792	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 965-1696	621	26	23.8	81.6%	7 (1.1%)	10 (1.6%)	495 (79.7%)	90 (14.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.9%)	$14,863			$1,378			$13,485	45.8	45.5	1296	6		063375013012
1303	Martin Murphy Middle	Public	6-8	141 Avenida Espana	San Jose	95139	Santa Clara County	Morgan Hill Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 201-6260	466	21	22.5	45.5%	78 (16.7%)	16 (3.4%)	254 (54.5%)	76 (16.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	36 (7.7%)	$17,326			$620			$16,706	45.8	41.7	1401	98		062583003880
1304	Benjamin Foxen Elementary	Public	K-8	4949 Foxen Canyon Rd.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Blochman Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 937-1148	210	10	20.9	44.8%	96 (45.7%)	1 (0.5%)	99 (47.1%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.2%)	$16,129			$1,826			$14,303	45.8	47.1	1245	59		060528000498
1305	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4	Public, Charter	6-8	9719 South Main St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 451-3009	486	18	26.5	94.4%	2 (0.4%)	16 (3.3%)	461 (94.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$20,383			$2,657			$17,726	45.7	49.8	1178	127		060186512528
1306	Windsor Middle	Public	6-8	9500 Brooks Rd. South	Windsor	95492	Sonoma County	Windsor Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 837-7737	736	46	15.9	46.7%	291 (39.5%)	6 (0.8%)	363 (49.3%)	10 (1.4%)	7 (1.0%)	4 (0.5%)	54 (7.3%)	$19,466			$724			$18,742	45.7	50.8	1151	155		060003406982
1307	Veritas Elementary	Public	K-8	1600 Pagola St.	Manteca	95337	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7390	1,266	48	26.4	61.2%	136 (10.7%)	55 (4.3%)	422 (33.3%)	590 (46.6%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (0.8%)	53 (4.2%)	$14,103			$1,911			$12,192	45.7	60.4	876	431		062361011420
1308	Joan MacQueen Middle	Public	6-8	2001 Tavern Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-3245	405	21	18.9	36.8%	204 (50.4%)	4 (1.0%)	125 (30.9%)	7 (1.7%)	14 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (11.6%)								45.6	48.4	1206	102		060210000092
1309	JCS - Manzanita	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5300 Jackson Dr.	La Mesa	91942	San Diego County	JCS - Manzanita District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 303-4344	224	15	14.8	47.3%	78 (34.8%)	6 (2.7%)	115 (51.3%)	6 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (8.5%)	$16,181			$489			$15,692	45.5	53.7	1049	260		060184114353
1310	Santa Lucia Middle	Public	6-8	2850 Schoolhouse Ln.	Cambria	93428	San Luis Obispo County	Coast Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 927-3693	112	10	11.5	87.5%	21 (18.8%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (75.9%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.6%)	$33,645			$9,754			$23,891	45.5	50.3	1164	146		060004907416

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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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.