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
211	Bethany Elementary	Public	K-8	570 Escuela Dr.	Mountain House	95391	San Joaquin County	Lammersville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 836-7250	768	33	23.5	16.1%	129 (16.8%)	32 (4.2%)	152 (19.8%)	367 (47.8%)	6 (0.8%)	4 (0.5%)	78 (10.2%)	$11,185			$174			$11,011	92.4	93.2	205	6		060141012109
212	Alfred B. Nobel Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	9950 Tampa Ave.	Northridge	91324	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 773-4700	1,784	78	22.7	57.1%	400 (22.4%)	86 (4.8%)	847 (47.5%)	353 (19.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	95 (5.3%)	$18,034			$2,618			$15,416	92.4	93.8	191	21		062271003225
213	Oak Avenue Intermediate	Public	7-8	6623 Oak Ave.	Temple City	91780	Los Angeles County	Temple City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 548-5060	839	35	24	38.7%	46 (5.5%)	6 (0.7%)	170 (20.3%)	574 (68.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (5.1%)	$17,807			$1,312			$16,495	92.4	91.1	253	40		063898006538
214	Sandpiper Elementary	Public	K-8	801 Redwood Shores Pkwy.	Redwood City	94065	San Mateo County	Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 631-5510	534	23	22.8	10.3%	115 (21.5%)	3 (0.6%)	69 (12.9%)	248 (46.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	98 (18.4%)	$15,607			$492			$15,115	92.4	83	418	204		060453007417
215	Kinetic Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	721 Utica Ave.	Huntington Beach	92648	Orange County	Kinetic Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 465-4565	361	21	17.4	33.8%	192 (53.2%)	8 (2.2%)	80 (22.2%)	34 (9.4%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	45 (12.5%)	$14,753			$258			$14,495	92.3	93.5	198	17		060221014050
216	Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	21717 Talisman St.	Torrance	90503	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4794	674	25	26.6	32.2%	131 (19.4%)	48 (7.1%)	184 (27.3%)	221 (32.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	86 (12.8%)	$15,731			$550			$15,181	92.3	92.2	225	9		063942002213
217	Sebastopol Independent Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1111 Gravenstein Hwy. N	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Sebastopol Independent Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 824-9700	286	14	20	36.7%	211 (73.8%)	1 (0.3%)	36 (12.6%)	10 (3.5%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (8.4%)	$14,072			$315			$13,757	92.3	85.1	382	165		060247705457
218	Aviara Oaks Middle	Public	6-8	6880 Ambrosia Ln.	Carlsbad	92011	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-6100	991	44	22.3	21.9%	572 (57.7%)	15 (1.5%)	207 (20.9%)	89 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	107 (10.8%)	$14,154			$341			$13,813	92.2	94.3	176	42		060750008606
219	Arroyo Vista Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2491 School House Rd.	Chula Vista	91915	San Diego County	Arroyo Vista Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 656-9676	911	37	24.5	27.7%	129 (14.2%)	24 (2.6%)	542 (59.5%)	142 (15.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	73 (8.0%)	$12,323			$155			$12,168	92.2	94.8	159	60		060164508299
220	First Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	301 South First Ave.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-8362	771	31	24.7	32.7%	62 (8.0%)	16 (2.1%)	130 (16.9%)	537 (69.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (3.1%)	$17,094			$1,757			$15,337	92.2	94.8	162	58		060297000228

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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:

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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