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
1201	Rio Calaveras Elementary	Public	K-8	1819 East Bianchi Rd.	Stockton	95210	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7270	796	31	25.9	72.7%	21 (2.6%)	67 (8.4%)	321 (40.3%)	339 (42.6%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (1.1%)	38 (4.8%)	$13,402			$2,907			$10,495	49.1	50.2	1167	34		063801007754
1202	Haskell (Pliny Fisk) Middle	Public	7-8	11525 Del Amo Blvd.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7815	403	19	21.1	74.7%	16 (4.0%)	46 (11.4%)	231 (57.3%)	81 (20.1%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	25 (6.2%)	$21,122			$2,206			$18,916	49	66.4	756	446		060162000016
1203	Cucamonga Middle	Public	6-8	7611 Hellman Ave.	Rancho Cucamonga	91730	San Bernardino County	Central Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 987-1788	662	34	19.4	71.5%	97 (14.7%)	55 (8.3%)	461 (69.6%)	22 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	24 (3.6%)	$17,285			$2,804			$14,481	49	48.2	1209	6		060795000762
1204	John F. Kennedy Middle	Public	6-8	2521 Goodwin Ave.	Redwood City	94061	San Mateo County	Redwood City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 482-2409	808	41	19.9	67.5%	113 (14.0%)	10 (1.2%)	623 (77.1%)	25 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.7%)	31 (3.8%)	$23,211			$2,991			$20,220	49	54.2	1037	167		063213004970
1205	Washington Academic Middle	Public	7-8	1705 Tenth St.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-7015	1,539	66	23.4	76.0%	77 (5.0%)	18 (1.2%)	1,109 (72.1%)	238 (15.5%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.3%)	91 (5.9%)	$17,468			$1,317			$16,151	49	40.1	1456	251		063525005979
1206	Mossdale Elementary	Public	K-8	455 Brookhurst Blvd.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6285	1,087	40	27.1	59.6%	108 (9.9%)	108 (9.9%)	462 (42.5%)	338 (31.1%)	3 (0.3%)	12 (1.1%)	56 (5.2%)	$13,534			$1,744			$11,790	49	44.6	1326	120		062361011959
1207	Florence Nightingale Middle	Public	6-8	3311 North Figueroa St.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 224-4800	773	47	16.5	87.3%	16 (2.1%)	19 (2.5%)	577 (74.6%)	148 (19.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.4%)	$26,893			$4,475			$22,418	49	40.8	1435	228		062271003215
1208	Bear Valley Middle	Public	6-8	3003 Bear Valley Pkwy.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-4060	923	51	17.9	68.4%	228 (24.7%)	8 (0.9%)	585 (63.4%)	39 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (6.8%)								49	42.5	1383	175		061288011128
1209	Loyalton High	Public	7-12	700 Fourth St.	Loyalton	96118	Sierra County	Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 993-4454	165	12	13.5	27.3%	126 (76.4%)	2 (1.2%)	30 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.0%)								48.9	41.2	1422	213		063678006229
1210	Costa Mesa High	Public	7-12	2650 Fairview Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-8700	1,730	89	19.4	73.2%	261 (15.1%)	20 (1.2%)	1,215 (70.2%)	109 (6.3%)	3 (0.2%)	23 (1.3%)	98 (5.7%)	$25,199			$2,037			$23,162	48.9	52.8	1080	130		062724004110

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.