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
11	Joaquin Miller Middle	Public	6-8	6151 Rainbow Dr.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 252-3755	1,067	51	20.8	13.5%	50 (4.7%)	3 (0.3%)	23 (2.2%)	908 (85.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (7.7%)	$17,178			$234			$16,944	99.3	99.6	6	5		061029001142
12	La Canada High	Public	7-12	4463 Oak Grove Dr.	La Canada	91011	Los Angeles County	La Canada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 952-4205	1,989	86	23	4.7%	876 (44.0%)	7 (0.4%)	266 (13.4%)	620 (31.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	218 (11.0%)	$17,326			$455			$16,871	99.2	99.1	13	1		062013002408
13	Redwood Middle	Public	6-8	13925 Fruitvale Ave.	Saratoga	95070	Santa Clara County	Saratoga Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 867-3042	709	34	20.8	2.5%	131 (18.5%)	2 (0.3%)	27 (3.8%)	464 (65.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	84 (11.8%)	$23,637			$1,051			$22,586	99.2	98.9	20	7		063591006150
14	Julius Cordes Elementary	Public	K-8	296 East Parco Ave.	Mountain House	95391	San Joaquin County	Lammersville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 836-7400	877	35	25.3	2.5%	41 (4.7%)	12 (1.4%)	29 (3.3%)	738 (84.2%)	14 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (4.8%)	$10,615			$178			$10,437	99.1	99.1	14			060141014521
15	Georgina P. Blach Junior High	Public	7-8	1120 Covington Rd.	Los Altos	94024	Santa Clara County	Los Altos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 934-3800	388	22	17.5	4.4%	139 (35.8%)	1 (0.3%)	22 (5.7%)	165 (42.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (14.7%)	$25,635			$395			$25,240	99.1	99.1	16	1		062265002783
16	Lilienthal (Claire) Elementary	Public	K-8	3630 Divisadero St.	San Francisco	94123	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 749-3516	673	30	22.1	23.2%	177 (26.3%)	50 (7.4%)	86 (12.8%)	199 (29.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	159 (23.6%)	$20,796			$1,568			$19,228	99	97.6	71	55		063441007841
17	Ross Elementary	Public	K-8	9 Lagunitas Rd.	Ross	94957	Marin County	Ross Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 457-2705	339	28	12.2	0.9%	264 (77.9%)	2 (0.6%)	24 (7.1%)	5 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (12.7%)	$30,322			$717			$29,605	98.9	98.9	21	4		063366005192
18	Sam H. Lawson Middle	Public	6-8	10401 Vista Dr.	Cupertino	95014	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 255-7500	841	44	19.3	15.2%	52 (6.2%)	6 (0.7%)	31 (3.7%)	703 (83.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (5.5%)	$18,636			$570			$18,066	98.9	99.1	15	3		061029011448
19	Corte Madera	Public	4-8	4575 Alpine Rd.	Portola Valley	94028	San Mateo County	Portola Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 851-1777	252	22	11.3	6.7%	154 (61.1%)	3 (1.2%)	33 (13.1%)	17 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (17.9%)	$36,155			$796			$35,359	98.9	98.2	41	22		063147004881
20	Accelerated Achievement Academy	Public	5-8	1151 Buena Vista Rd.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4460	151	6	27.4	47.7%	17 (11.3%)	2 (1.3%)	109 (72.2%)	16 (10.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.6%)	$9,831			$1,025			$8,806	98.9	97.6	74	54		061734012565

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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