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
2482	Hazelton Elementary	Public	K-8	535 West Jefferson	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7210	586	26	22.4	90.6%	8 (1.4%)	37 (6.3%)	472 (80.5%)	48 (8.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.1%)	$14,820			$3,261			$11,559	13.9	18	2344	138		063801006416
2483	Taylor Leadership Academy	Public	K-8	1101 Lever Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7290	397	17	22.7	85.6%	12 (3.0%)	63 (15.9%)	218 (54.9%)	78 (19.6%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.3%)	20 (5.0%)	$15,644			$2,773			$12,871	13.9	12.4	2569	86		063801006434
2484	Shadow Ridge	Public, Alternative	K-12	15776 Main St.	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Hesperia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 949-8267	378	19	19.6	79.6%	58 (15.3%)	27 (7.1%)	277 (73.3%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.4%)	$40,108			$6,268			$33,840	13.8	16.3	2427	57		060001407287
2485	iLEAD Lancaster Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	254 East Avenue K-4	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	iLEAD Lancaster Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 722-4287	771	32	24.3	78.6%	131 (17.0%)	271 (35.1%)	299 (38.8%)	3 (0.4%)	7 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (7.8%)	$20,335			$3,021			$17,314	13.8	13.9	2518	33		060206013037
2486	Vineland Elementary	Public	K-8	3609 Vineland Ave.	Baldwin Park	91706	Los Angeles County	Baldwin Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 962-9719	604	24	25.1	92.2%	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	556 (92.1%)	35 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.0%)	$27,897			$7,633			$20,264	13.8	35.3	1614	872		060369000341
2487	Sandia Academy	Public	K-8	21331 Sandia Rd.	Apple Valley	92308	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 240-5125	848	39	21.6	88.2%	172 (20.3%)	51 (6.0%)	568 (67.0%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	44 (5.2%)	$17,982			$2,309			$15,673	13.7	7.4	2726	239		060001709272
2488	Emerson Middle	Public	6-8	801 Fourth St.	Bakersfield	93304	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5260	813	37	21.9	90.2%	49 (6.0%)	107 (13.2%)	627 (77.1%)	13 (1.6%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	10 (1.2%)	$18,410			$2,638			$15,772	13.7	15.4	2462	26		060363000297
2489	El Camino Junior High	Public	7-8	219 West El Camino	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-7800	830	45	18.2	97.0%	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	820 (98.8%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,698			$2,635			$19,063	13.7	15.1	2475	14		060558009315
2490	Animo Legacy Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	12226 South Western Ave.	Los Angeles	90047	Los Angeles County	Animo Legacy Charter Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 600-6000	887	46	19.4	94.6%	10 (1.1%)	275 (31.0%)	582 (65.6%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.0%)	7 (0.8%)	$22,362			$1,548			$20,814	13.7	10.6	2646	156		060162412935
2491	Wilson Elementary	Public	K-8	150 East Mendocino Ave.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7325	346	13	26.2	85.5%	28 (8.1%)	29 (8.4%)	244 (70.5%)	22 (6.4%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	20 (5.8%)	$14,301			$2,765			$11,536	13.7	12.9	2556	65		063801010316

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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:

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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