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
461	San Elijo Middle	Public	6-8	1600 Schoolhouse Way	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2800	1,395	60	23.2	19.1%	791 (56.7%)	16 (1.1%)	334 (23.9%)	112 (8.0%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	136 (9.7%)	$14,962			$833			$14,129	80.9	81.4	451	10		063488011403
462	Clear Creek Elementary	Public	K-8	17700 McCourtney Rd.	Grass Valley	95949	Nevada County	Clear Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 273-3664	173	10	17.3	45.1%	113 (65.3%)	1 (0.6%)	24 (13.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (19.1%)	$13,830			$1,044			$12,786	80.7	49.6	1184	722		060888000898
463	Temecula Preparatory	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	35777 Abelia St.	Winchester	92596	Riverside County	Temecula Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 926-6776	1,086	54	20.1	15.7%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,020			$408			$11,612	80.7	63.9	802	339		060208408564
464	Heritage K-8 Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1855 East Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92027	San Diego County	Heritage K-8 Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 737-3111	1,345	60	22.3	35.9%	476 (35.4%)	24 (1.8%)	620 (46.1%)	155 (11.5%)	12 (0.9%)	7 (0.5%)	51 (3.8%)	$11,450			$00			$11,450	80.7	83.1	415	49		060166011228
465	Colony Oak Elementary	Public	K-8	22241 South Murphy Rd.	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	Ripon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 599-7145	447	19	23.2	22.4%	256 (57.3%)	0 (0.0%)	134 (30.0%)	22 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	34 (7.6%)	$14,010			$1,002			$13,008	80.7	87.8	326	139		063288010027
466	Akers Elementary	Public	K-8	Constellation Ave.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Central Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 998-5707	592	32	18.5	21.5%	225 (38.0%)	64 (10.8%)	159 (26.9%)	41 (6.9%)	4 (0.7%)	6 (1.0%)	93 (15.7%)	$33,050			$2,337			$30,713	80.4	68.6	710	244		060798000765
467	McCabe Elementary	Public	K-8	701 West McCabe Rd.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	McCabe Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 352-5443	1,109	47	23.6	42.3%	91 (8.2%)	3 (0.3%)	969 (87.4%)	25 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (1.9%)								80.3	77.6	535	68		062418003643
468	Fairmont Elementary	Public	K-8	3095 North Greenwood Ave.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6120	744	33	22.2	46.8%	304 (40.9%)	4 (0.5%)	288 (38.7%)	107 (14.4%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.0%)	$16,310			$1,156			$15,154	80.3	79.2	492	24		063525005970
469	Eastlake Middle	Public	7-8	900 Duncan Ranch Rd.	Chula Vista	91914	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 591-4000	1,613	62	26	25.4%	198 (12.3%)	112 (6.9%)	880 (54.6%)	313 (19.4%)	4 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	102 (6.3%)								80.2	75	592	123		063864011269
470	Literacy First Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	799 East Washington Ave.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Literacy First Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 579-7232	2,160	96	22.5	52.3%	684 (31.7%)	33 (1.5%)	434 (20.1%)	908 (42.0%)	7 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	91 (4.2%)	$14,649			$1,125			$13,524	80.2	76.5	557	87		060209810374

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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