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
2002	Aspen Ridge Public	Public, Charter	7-12	3821 North Clark St.	Fresno	93726	Fresno County	Aspen Ridge Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 374-0080	246	17	14.7	81.3%	12 (4.9%)	26 (10.6%)	193 (78.5%)	8 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.8%)	$16,727			$1,482			$15,245	25	25.7	2012	10		060255914587
2003	Jurupa Middle	Public	7-8	8700 Galena St.	Jurupa Valley	92509	Riverside County	Jurupa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 360-2846	1,105	51	21.6	77.1%	86 (7.8%)	30 (2.7%)	930 (84.2%)	26 (2.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	29 (2.6%)	$19,130			$1,696			$17,434	25	30	1813	190		061926002312
2004	Nettie L. Waite Middle	Public	6-8	14320 South Norwalk Blvd.	Norwalk	90650	Los Angeles County	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 210-4370	462	24	19.4	82.5%	6 (1.3%)	9 (1.9%)	420 (90.9%)	16 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.2%)	$18,628			$981			$17,647	25	22.9	2132	128		062769004184
2005	Merced Scholars Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1850 Wardrobe Ave. Bldg. H	Merced	95341	Merced County	Merced County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 381-5165	334	20	16.5	79.9%	53 (15.9%)	4 (1.2%)	245 (73.4%)	16 (4.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.6%)	$18,393			$1,258			$17,135	25	24.3	2066	61		069102010960
2006	Valley Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	14646 Sherman Way	Van Nuys	91405	Los Angeles County	Valley Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 988-9128	264	14	19.3	83.3%	25 (9.5%)	5 (1.9%)	225 (85.2%)	6 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	$19,492			$4,166			$15,326	25	22.9	2133	127		060246812643
2007	Altus Schools East County	Public, Charter	7-12	111 Fletcher Pkwy.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Altus Schools East County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2020	287	8	35.3	73.2%	68 (23.7%)	21 (7.3%)	167 (58.2%)	8 (2.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (6.6%)	$16,740			$2,819			$13,921	24.9	28	1903	104		060194014169
2008	Montezuma Elementary	Public	K-8	2843 Farmington Rd.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7255	652	31	20.8	90.8%	17 (2.6%)	19 (2.9%)	583 (89.4%)	21 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.5%)	$15,978			$3,392			$12,586	24.9	36.8	1571	437		063801006426
2009	Willows Intermediate	Public	5-8	1145 West Cedar St.	Willows	95988	Glenn County	Willows Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 934-6633	464	24	19.1	72.6%	180 (38.8%)	4 (0.9%)	233 (50.2%)	18 (3.9%)	11 (2.4%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.4%)	$16,014			$2,560			$13,454	24.9	22.2	2162	153		064271006979
2010	Nellie N. Coffman Middle	Public	6-8	34-603 Plumley Rd.	Cathedral City	92234	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 770-8617	914	46	19.9	97.2%	42 (4.6%)	14 (1.5%)	838 (91.7%)	9 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.0%)	$20,491			$1,704			$18,787	24.9	21.7	2187	177		062955004563
2011	Montgomery Middle	Public	7-8	1051 Picador Blvd.	San Diego	92154	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 662-4000	734	34	21.4	63.5%	11 (1.5%)	18 (2.5%)	648 (88.3%)	45 (6.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.2%)								24.8	30.3	1800	211		063864006487

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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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:

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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.