Best Middle Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
1111	Feaster (Mae L.) Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	670 Flower St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Feaster (Mae L.) Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 422-8397	1,095	60	18.3	81.5%	23 (2.1%)	20 (1.8%)	1,011 (92.3%)	22 (2.0%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	13 (1.2%)	$17,670			$2,854			$14,816	52.7	40.2	1453	342		060217300858
1112	Alta Loma Middle	Public	6-8	116 Romney Ave.	South San Francisco	94080	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8797	652	39	16.8	37.0%	48 (7.4%)	4 (0.6%)	281 (43.1%)	257 (39.4%)	6 (0.9%)	8 (1.2%)	48 (7.4%)	$20,038			$1,782			$18,256	52.7	55.7	997	115		063753006339
1113	California Middle	Public	7-8	1600 Vallejo Way	Sacramento	95818	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5302	782	41	19.1	62.4%	151 (19.3%)	85 (10.9%)	365 (46.7%)	96 (12.3%)	6 (0.8%)	6 (0.8%)	73 (9.3%)	$23,331			$3,345			$19,986	52.6	48.1	1213	100		063384005228
1114	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	1450 West Castle Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 788-0923	532	25	21.2	85.5%	67 (12.6%)	0 (0.0%)	435 (81.8%)	16 (3.0%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (1.9%)	$19,856			$1,687			$18,169	52.6	50.3	1163	49		060006411825
1115	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. P	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of San Diego District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	842	46	18.4	46.2%	290 (34.4%)	29 (3.4%)	427 (50.7%)	18 (2.1%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	73 (8.7%)	$15,364			$1,181			$14,183	52.6	51.2	1133	18		060151713179
1116	Computer Science Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	5010 11th Ave.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(424) 429-4228	765	35	22.1	81.2%	71 (9.3%)	94 (12.3%)	525 (68.6%)	32 (4.2%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	37 (4.8%)	$19,024			$3,261			$15,763	52.5	40.4	1446	330		062271014632
1117	Menlo Avenue Elementary	Public	K-8	4156 Menlo Ave.	Los Angeles	90037	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 232-4291	531	29	18.3	98.9%	3 (0.6%)	48 (9.0%)	464 (87.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.0%)	$24,576			$5,593			$18,983	52.4	40.8	1431	314		062271003180
1118	Granite Mountain Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8560 Aliento Rd.	Lucerne Valley	92356	San Bernardino County	Granite Mountain Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(909) 906-3593	4,393	164	26.7	39.9%	1,527 (34.8%)	149 (3.4%)	2,119 (48.2%)	195 (4.4%)	17 (0.4%)	11 (0.3%)	373 (8.5%)	$13,943			$217			$13,726	52.4	43.6	1354	236		060251614425
1119	Folsom Cordova K-8 Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4420 Monhegan Way	Mather	95655	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9190	150	7	20.2	36.7%	75 (50.0%)	6 (4.0%)	39 (26.0%)	7 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (15.3%)	$62,606			$458			$62,148	52.4	47.2	1241	122		061389011068
1120	Palmdale Learning Plaza	Public	K-8	38043 Division St.	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 538-9034	800	36	22.2	72.3%	56 (7.0%)	96 (12.0%)	593 (74.1%)	12 (1.5%)	6 (0.8%)	4 (0.5%)	33 (4.1%)	$18,910			$2,600			$16,310	52.4	57.9	936	184		062958002169

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.