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
1622	Almond Acres Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1145 Niblick Rd.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	Almond Acres Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 221-8550	478	18	26.5	47.1%	255 (53.3%)	2 (0.4%)	174 (36.4%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (8.8%)	$14,441			$684			$13,757	35.9	49.6	1183	439		060194313176
1623	Traver Elementary	Public	K-8	36736 Canal Dr.	Traver	93673	Tulare County	Traver Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-0236	235	11	21.3	71.5%	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	228 (97.0%)	6 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,431			$1,593			$16,838	35.9	38.9	1511	112		063960006594
1624	Raymond Cree Middle	Public	6-8	1011 Vista Chino	Palm Springs	92262	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 416-8283	721	37	19.6	97.1%	78 (10.8%)	48 (6.7%)	533 (73.9%)	23 (3.2%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	33 (4.6%)	$21,848			$1,755			$20,093	35.8	37.8	1535	89		062955004564
1625	Nelson Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	2255 Sixth St.	Oroville	95965	Butte County	Thermalito Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 538-2940	456	23	19.4	85.7%	162 (35.5%)	8 (1.8%)	71 (15.6%)	162 (35.5%)	10 (2.2%)	2 (0.4%)	41 (9.0%)	$20,724			$2,062			$18,662	35.8	33.5	1691	66		063918006544
1626	Imperial Valley Home School Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2370 Main St.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 335-5100	131	5	26.2	58.0%	15 (11.5%)	2 (1.5%)	107 (81.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.3%)	$62,288			$4,035			$58,253	35.7	50.8	1146	480		061203012660
1627	Oak Creek Intermediate	Public	6-8	40094 Indian Springs Rd.	Oakhurst	93644	Madera County	Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 642-1555	187	10	18.2	74.3%	118 (63.1%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (26.7%)	4 (2.1%)	10 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.7%)	$18,448			$3,240			$15,208	35.7	26.4	1980	353		060408009307
1628	Apple Valley Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	12555 Navajo Rd.	Apple Valley	92308	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 247-8001	173	10	17.3	85.0%	27 (15.6%)	8 (4.6%)	125 (72.3%)	6 (3.5%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.5%)	$11,800			$604			$11,196	35.7	37.6	1539	89		060001714643
1629	Arroyo Elementary	Public	K-8	1700 East Seventh St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 985-1012	493	23	21.2	76.3%	16 (3.2%)	7 (1.4%)	442 (89.7%)	12 (2.4%)	6 (1.2%)	7 (1.4%)	3 (0.6%)	$23,728			$3,161			$20,567	35.6	35.2	1616	13		062847004387
1630	Independence	Public, Alternative	K-12	13451 North Extension Rd.	Lodi	95242	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-8275	166	12	14.1	72.3%	30 (18.1%)	10 (6.0%)	87 (52.4%)	30 (18.1%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	6 (3.6%)	$15,319			$2,065			$13,254	35.6	33.1	1701	71		062223008320
1631	Richard E. Byrd Middle	Public	6-8	8501 Arleta Ave.	Sun Valley	91352	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 394-4300	933	46	20.2	89.1%	41 (4.4%)	10 (1.1%)	823 (88.2%)	53 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	$23,670			$3,963			$19,707	35.5	36.7	1576	55		062271002878

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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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.