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
2142	Nightingale Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1721 Carpenter Rd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7260	425	19	22.9	84.7%	4 (0.9%)	27 (6.4%)	355 (83.5%)	28 (6.6%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	7 (1.6%)	$17,476			$3,467			$14,009	22.3	24.3	2067	75		063801006427
2143	KIPP Valiant Community Prep	Public, Charter	K-8	620 Willow Rd	Menlo Park	94025	San Mateo County	KIPP Valiant Community Prep District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 422-4022	587	31	19	90.8%	4 (0.7%)	13 (2.2%)	545 (92.8%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.6%)	6 (1.0%)	$44,090			$3,942			$40,148	22.3	33.6	1686	457		060248114087
2144	Spanos (Alex G.) Elementary	Public	K-8	536 South California St.	Stockton	95203	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7470	482	16	29.9	91.9%	7 (1.5%)	21 (4.4%)	428 (88.8%)	26 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,804			$2,892			$9,912	22.2	20.2	2256	112		063801012281
2145	Richland Junior High	Public	7-8	331 Shafter Ave.	Shafter	93263	Kern County	Richland Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 746-8630	558	34	16.3	91.4%	24 (4.3%)	5 (0.9%)	522 (93.5%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,936			$8,737			$14,199	22.2	17.5	2369	224		062145009565
2146	Mira Loma Middle	Public	7-8	5051 Steve St.	Jurupa Valley	92509	Riverside County	Jurupa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 360-2883	711	33	21.3	84.2%	39 (5.5%)	8 (1.1%)	651 (91.6%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.8%)	$20,898			$2,161			$18,737	22.2	22.1	2167	21		061926004980
2147	Rim Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	27390 Highway 18	Lake Arrowhead	92352	San Bernardino County	Rim of the World Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(909) 744-9520	80	4	20.4	63.8%	36 (45.0%)	3 (3.8%)	35 (43.8%)	2 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	2 (2.5%)	$19,221			$3,918			$15,303	22.2	32	1731	416		063261013953
2148	Riverbend Elementary	Public	K-8	301 Stewart Rd.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-3100	914	47	19.5	76.3%	217 (23.7%)	14 (1.5%)	411 (45.0%)	194 (21.2%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	70 (7.7%)								22.1	28.1	1900	248		064347011930
2149	Woodville Elementary	Public	K-8	16541 Road 168	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Woodville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-9713	371	20	18.5	94.9%	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	368 (99.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,943			$2,845			$20,098	22.1	16.1	2433	284		064317007014
2150	Harden Middle	Public	7-8	1561 McKinnon St.	Salinas	93906	Monterey County	Salinas Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 796-7300	1,101	52	21.1	82.2%	29 (2.6%)	10 (0.9%)	1,016 (92.3%)	34 (3.1%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.5%)	$17,583			$1,591			$15,992	22.1	24.1	2078	72		063398000677
2151	A. M. Winn Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	3351 Explorer Dr.	Sacramento	95827	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4505	405	23	17.5	58.0%	163 (40.2%)	26 (6.4%)	136 (33.6%)	19 (4.7%)	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	54 (13.3%)	$24,597			$3,419			$21,178	22.1	28.5	1881	270		063384005217

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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