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
111	Adaline E. Kent Middle	Public	5-8	800 College Ave.	Kentfield	94904	Marin County	Kentfield Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 458-5970	488	32	15.4	10.7%	313 (64.1%)	3 (0.6%)	81 (16.6%)	20 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	68 (13.9%)	$21,704			$223			$21,481	96.2	95.5	137	26		061938002329
112	Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	1250 Fernside Blvd.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4018	971	41	23.5	20.2%	301 (31.0%)	23 (2.4%)	99 (10.2%)	325 (33.5%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	217 (22.3%)	$17,650			$1,528			$16,122	96.2	95.2	144	32		060177000049
113	Earl Warren Middle	Public	7-8	155 Stevens St.	Solana Beach	92075	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 755-1558	476	20	23.5	18.1%	324 (68.1%)	2 (0.4%)	87 (18.3%)	15 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (9.2%)	$15,940			$519			$15,421	96.1	96.3	114	1		063438005575
114	Hall Middle	Public	6-8	200 Doherty Dr.	Larkspur	94939	Marin County	Larkspur-Corte Madera	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 927-6978	440	22	19.6	10.7%	306 (69.5%)	3 (0.7%)	68 (15.5%)	25 (5.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	36 (8.2%)	$20,913			$1,064			$19,849	96.1	96.2	117	3		062091002515
115	Thurston Middle	Public	6-8	2100 Park Ave.	Laguna Beach	92651	Orange County	Laguna Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 497-7785	524	31	16.6	17.7%	369 (70.4%)	6 (1.1%)	65 (12.4%)	29 (5.5%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (9.9%)	$34,384			$1,134			$33,250	96	94.2	177	62		062037002455
116	Hilton D. Bell Intermediate	Public	7-8	12345 Springdale St.	Garden Grove	92845	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6466	632	27	23.4	41.6%	186 (29.4%)	3 (0.5%)	188 (29.7%)	198 (31.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	56 (8.9%)	$18,964			$2,670			$16,294	96	96.1	121	5		061488001826
117	Jeffrey Trail Middle	Public	7-8	155 Visions	Irvine	92620	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-5000	1,049	42	24.7	18.3%	164 (15.6%)	21 (2.0%)	94 (9.0%)	681 (64.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	85 (8.1%)	$13,657			$405			$13,252	96	96.6	104	13		068450013238
118	Rocklin Academy Gateway	Public, Charter	K-8	6550 Lonetree Blvd.	Rocklin	95765	Placer County	Rocklin Academy Gateway District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 778-4550	1,093	48	22.6	15.8%	353 (32.3%)	9 (0.8%)	155 (14.2%)	482 (44.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.3%)	89 (8.1%)	$12,807			$175			$12,632	96	96.2	118			060226813641
119	Rolling Hills Middle	Public	6-8	7141 Silva Valley Pkwy.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 933-9290	778	38	20.5	10.2%	436 (56.0%)	6 (0.8%)	126 (16.2%)	141 (18.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (8.6%)								96	95.1	153	34		060627002958
120	Lawton Alternative	Public	K-8	1570 31st Ave.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2832	600	29	21	57.8%	28 (4.7%)	11 (1.8%)	28 (4.7%)	454 (75.7%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	74 (12.3%)	$23,436			$1,655			$21,781	95.9	96.1	122	2		063441005639

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.