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
241	Jefferson Academy	Public	K-8	1264 Middleton St.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3700	501	18	27.8	47.9%	48 (9.6%)	4 (0.8%)	428 (85.4%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.6%)	$14,534			$1,299			$13,235	91.4	89.7	286	45		061647002079
242	Diablo View Middle	Public	6-8	300 Diablo View Ln.	Clayton	94517	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 672-0898	514	22	23.1	23.5%	258 (50.2%)	16 (3.1%)	100 (19.5%)	56 (10.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	84 (16.3%)	$2,362			$844			$1,518	91.4	85.6	375	133		062637001967
243	Sierramont Middle	Public	6-8	3155 Kimlee Dr.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1955	742	31	23.9	24.8%	36 (4.9%)	5 (0.7%)	151 (20.4%)	514 (69.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	33 (4.4%)	$17,672			$972			$16,700	91.4	91.9	231	12		060480000466
244	Placer Elementary	Public	K-8	8650 Horseshoe Bar Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1830	505	20	25.1	6.9%	402 (79.6%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (13.5%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.7%)	$11,502			$1,016			$10,486	91.3	94	187	57		062256002773
245	Twin Rivers Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2510 Live Oak Blvd.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Twin Rivers Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 755-2872	519	22	23.7	39.5%	240 (46.2%)	12 (2.3%)	155 (29.9%)	55 (10.6%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (9.8%)	$16,158			$427			$15,731	91.3	89	299	54		060227811519
246	Elizabeth Pinkerton Middle	Public	7-8	8365 Whitelock Pkwy.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 683-7680	1,136	50	22.5	43.9%	151 (13.3%)	119 (10.5%)	237 (20.9%)	487 (42.9%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.1%)	128 (11.3%)	$15,139			$723			$14,416	91.3	92.3	223	23		061233012284
247	South Lake Middle	Public	7-8	655 West Yale Loop	Irvine	92614	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6700	652	29	22.2	34.2%	205 (31.4%)	25 (3.8%)	108 (16.6%)	239 (36.7%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	72 (11.0%)	$16,577			$1,130			$15,447	91.2	92.8	211	36		068450003493
248	Robert O. Townsend Junior High	Public	7-8	15359 Ilex Dr.	Chino Hills	91709	San Bernardino County	Chino Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 591-2161	905	37	24.4	54.8%	138 (15.2%)	34 (3.8%)	375 (41.4%)	317 (35.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	37 (4.1%)								91.1	87.5	335	87		060846008808
249	Challenger Middle	Public	6-8	10810 Parkdale Ave.	San Diego	92126	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 302-3000	960	39	24.5	48.8%	148 (15.4%)	26 (2.7%)	189 (19.7%)	455 (47.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	138 (14.4%)	$17,848			$2,625			$15,223	91	90.9	260	11		063432009189
250	Connections Visual and Performing Arts Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	17555 Tuolumne Rd.	Tuolumne	95379	Tuolumne County	Summerville Union High	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 928-4228	117	6	19.9	30.8%	76 (65.0%)	1 (0.9%)	26 (22.2%)	2 (1.7%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (9.4%)	$15,294			$37			$15,257	91	85.4	377	127		063828010707

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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