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
341	Granada Middle	Public	6-8	15337 Lemon Dr.	Whittier	90604	Los Angeles County	East Whittier City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 464-2330	989	48	20.4	55.2%	118 (11.9%)	12 (1.2%)	790 (79.9%)	36 (3.6%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (3.0%)	$18,538			$1,445			$17,093	86.7	78.6	516	175		061185001314
342	Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate	Public	7-8	21931 Alma Aldea	Rancho Santa Margarita	92688	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 459-8253	1,153	48	24	29.1%	529 (45.9%)	14 (1.2%)	302 (26.2%)	180 (15.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.4%)	123 (10.7%)	$17,967			$1,361			$16,606	86.6	89.1	298	44		063386002404
343	Miller Creek Middle	Public	6-8	2255 Las Gallinas Ave.	San Rafael	94903	Marin County	Miller Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 492-3760	620	35	17.6	20.3%	344 (55.5%)	12 (1.9%)	171 (27.6%)	36 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (9.2%)	$31,766			$1,221			$30,545	86.5	82.5	428	85		061122001247
344	Journey	Public, Charter	K-8	27102 Foxborough	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Journey District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 448-7232	617	25	24.6	35.2%	310 (50.2%)	6 (1.0%)	131 (21.2%)	49 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	120 (19.4%)	$11,890			$199			$11,691	86.5	88.7	304	40		060208008542
345	Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies	Public, Alternative	4-12	18605 Erwin St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-5600	1,712	73	23.3	57.6%	637 (37.2%)	61 (3.6%)	613 (35.8%)	269 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	129 (7.5%)	$17,806			$2,799			$15,007	86.5	86.7	352	7		062271009151
346	John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1102 Investment Blvd.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	John Adams Academy - El Dorado Hills District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 780-6800	1,580	76	20.9	16.8%	1,160 (73.4%)	16 (1.0%)	218 (13.8%)	77 (4.9%)	4 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	104 (6.6%)	$14,823			$327			$14,496	86.5	72.5	642	296		060196914072
347	Longfellow Utk-8	Public	K-8	5055 July St.	San Diego	92110	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-8300	726	31	23.8	30.7%	271 (37.3%)	44 (6.1%)	330 (45.5%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	71 (9.8%)	$17,543			$2,333			$15,210	86.4	82.7	426	79		063432005505
348	Downtown Elementary	Public	K-8	2021 M St.	Bakersfield	93301	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5920	317	15	21.6	31.2%	108 (34.1%)	9 (2.8%)	179 (56.5%)	10 (3.2%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$18,332			$2,170			$16,162	86.4	89.4	291	57		060363007101
349	Classical Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2950 South Bear Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Classical Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 546-0101	1,581	56	28.4	25.2%	861 (54.5%)	10 (0.6%)	448 (28.3%)	98 (6.2%)	8 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	155 (9.8%)	$12,711			$157			$12,554	86.3	90.8	263	86		060156008300
350	Gratton Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4500 South Gratton Rd.	Denair	95316	Stanislaus County	Gratton Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 632-0505	111	6	17.8	12.6%	87 (78.4%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (18.0%)	4 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,920			$613			$15,307	86.3	80.4	470	120		061581012452

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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:

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

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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.