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
731	Sage Oak Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1473 Ford St.	Redlands	92373	San Bernardino County	Sage Oak Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(888) 435-4445	3,879	177	21.8	44.1%	1,264 (32.6%)	94 (2.4%)	2,018 (52.0%)	227 (5.9%)	9 (0.2%)	10 (0.3%)	253 (6.5%)	$12,032			$730			$11,302	67.4	63.3	811	80		060162914107
732	Palms Middle	Public	6-8	10860 Woodbine St.	Los Angeles	90034	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 253-7600	1,081	55	19.6	71.5%	147 (13.6%)	270 (25.0%)	496 (45.9%)	85 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (7.7%)	$19,314			$3,265			$16,049	67.4	72.4	643	89		062271003267
733	Southside Elementary	Public	K-8	4991 Southside Rd.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Southside Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 637-4439	267	11	24.1	45.3%	78 (29.2%)	3 (1.1%)	179 (67.0%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$11,016			$960			$10,056	67.4	66.8	749	16		063765006379
734	Sandburg Middle	Public	6-8	819 West Bennett Ave.	Glendora	91741	Los Angeles County	Glendora Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 852-4530	695	28	24.6	30.8%	102 (14.7%)	12 (1.7%)	449 (64.6%)	87 (12.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (6.0%)	$16,790			$2,596			$14,194	67.4	62.8	822	88		061527001956
735	La Mesa Junior High	Public	7-8	26623 May Way	Santa Clarita	91351	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 250-0022	1,017	50	20.2	47.8%	180 (17.7%)	79 (7.8%)	578 (56.8%)	133 (13.1%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	42 (4.1%)	$18,315			$1,945			$16,370	67.3	56.8	965	230		064251003268
736	Redding Collegiate Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3200 Adams Ln.	Redding	96002	Shasta County	Enterprise Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 224-4240	219	8	26.9	58.4%	148 (67.6%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (11.4%)	7 (3.2%)	5 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (15.5%)	$17,723			$384			$17,339	67.3	59.6	899	163		061281014193
737	Heron	Public	K-8	5151 Banfield Dr.	Sacramento	95835	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5680	977	43	22.6	35.1%	216 (22.1%)	135 (13.8%)	276 (28.2%)	191 (19.5%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.3%)	145 (14.8%)	$15,249			$1,680			$13,569	67.3	68.6	707	30		060003611734
738	Bullard Talent	Public	K-8	4950 North Harrison Ave.	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7030	744	38	19.4	47.0%	172 (23.1%)	41 (5.5%)	454 (61.0%)	28 (3.8%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	44 (5.9%)	$17,072			$1,807			$15,265	67.3	77.6	536	202		061455008141
739	Paakuma K-8	Public	K-8	17875 Sycamore Creek Loop Pkwy	San Bernardino	92407	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 355-3137	940	45	20.7	50.7%	127 (13.5%)	87 (9.3%)	620 (66.0%)	49 (5.2%)	5 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	50 (5.3%)	$24,032			$4,690			$19,342	67.2	61.6	849	110		063417013674
740	La Vina Middle	Public	6-8	1331 Browning Rd.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-3601	521	26	19.8	78.9%	7 (1.3%)	2 (0.4%)	417 (80.0%)	85 (16.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.5%)	$19,165			$3,275			$15,890	67.1	73.7	617	123		061089011598

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.