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
1532	Blaker-Kinser Junior High	Public	7-8	1601 Kinser Rd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1810	603	28	21.4	90.4%	48 (8.0%)	8 (1.3%)	520 (86.2%)	21 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	$18,982			$2,202			$16,780	38.6	33.6	1683	151		060813004129
1533	Equitas Academy #2	Public, Charter	5-8	2723 West 8th St.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Equitas Academy #2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 201-5940	437	19	23.1	93.6%	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.7%)	428 (97.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,290			$2,433			$17,857	38.5	30.1	1809	276		060248413145
1534	Bayshore	Public	K-8	155 Oriente St.	Daly City	94014	San Mateo County	Bayshore Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 467-5443	342	17	20	63.7%	23 (6.7%)	8 (2.3%)	160 (46.8%)	101 (29.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (6.4%)	28 (8.2%)	$20,357			$3,291			$17,066	38.5	39.4	1487	47		060420000379
1535	Altus Schools Audeo	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	10170 Huennekens St.	San Diego	92121	San Diego County	Altus Schools Audeo District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2050	450	15	30.6	64.0%	137 (30.4%)	28 (6.2%)	234 (52.0%)	13 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	33 (7.3%)	$19,865			$957			$18,908	38.5	42.4	1385	150		060152210634
1536	Somerset Middle	Public	6-8	1037 Floyd Ave.	Modesto	95350	Stanislaus County	Sylvan Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-5300	947	45	20.8	74.0%	242 (25.6%)	34 (3.6%)	499 (52.7%)	85 (9.0%)	4 (0.4%)	11 (1.2%)	72 (7.6%)	$11,079			$786			$10,293	38.3	32.5	1724	188		063867006500
1537	Cleveland Elementary	Public	K-8	20 East Fulton St.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7165	587	25	23.1	84.0%	33 (5.6%)	42 (7.2%)	405 (69.0%)	72 (12.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.3%)	$16,310			$3,374			$12,936	38.3	32.8	1710	173		063801006400
1538	Le Grand Elementary	Public	K-8	13071 East Le Grand Rd.	Le Grand	95333	Merced County	Le Grand Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 389-4515	344	19	18	79.4%	31 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	301 (87.5%)	7 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.5%)	$23,191			$1,750			$21,441	38.3	25.7	2009	471		062124002547
1539	Alianza Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	115 Casserly Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6333	626	28	22.3	80.2%	14 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	609 (97.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)								38.2	23.8	2098	559		062949004554
1540	Rincon Middle	Public	6-8	925 Lehner Ave.	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2491	772	41	18.8	83.0%	85 (11.0%)	7 (0.9%)	605 (78.4%)	26 (3.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	46 (6.0%)								38.2	40.3	1450	90		061288008833
1541	Orange Center Elementary	Public	K-8	3530 South Cherry Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Orange Center	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 237-0437	261	13	20	98.9%	9 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	227 (87.0%)	20 (7.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	$23,337			$5,054			$18,283	38.2	34.6	1644	103		062853004417

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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