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
1742	Southport Elementary	Public	K-8	2747 Linden Rd.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7890	785	36	21.8	50.4%	249 (31.7%)	38 (4.8%)	315 (40.1%)	86 (11.0%)	4 (0.5%)	11 (1.4%)	82 (10.4%)								32.4	38.2	1525	217		064158007936
1743	Palm Middle	Public	6-8	11900 Slawson Ave.	Moreno Valley	92557	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 571-4260	999	50	19.9	84.4%	99 (9.9%)	124 (12.4%)	712 (71.3%)	23 (2.3%)	4 (0.4%)	6 (0.6%)	31 (3.1%)	$20,711			$2,302			$18,409	32.4	31.1	1768	25		062580010278
1744	New Jerusalem	Public, Charter	1-8	31400 South Koster Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	New Jerusalem Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 835-2597	217	9	24.6	48.4%	85 (39.2%)	6 (2.8%)	117 (53.9%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.7%)	$16,666			$499			$16,167	32.3	20.8	2226	482		062703012204
1745	Pacific Coast Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	294 Green Valley Rd.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 786-2180	132	6	21.6	78.0%	13 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (82.6%)	5 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)								32.3			(n/a)		062949008364
1746	Renaissance Academy	Public	6-8	1720 Hopkins Dr.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-1950	348	22	15.9	81.0%	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	274 (78.7%)	56 (16.1%)	1 (0.3%)	8 (2.3%)	5 (1.4%)	$22,475			$3,088			$19,387	32.2	33.5	1687	59		060231011446
1747	William Finch	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	607 East Tehama St.	Orland	95963	Glenn County	Glenn County Office of Education	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 865-1683	154	9	16.7	63.0%	60 (39.0%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (52.6%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.5%)	$18,780			$1,729			$17,051	32.2	12.1	2582	835		069100808479
1748	Julia Lee Performing Arts Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	19740 Grand Ave.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Julia Lee Performing Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 595-4500	440	11	39.9	65.2%	50 (11.4%)	65 (14.8%)	298 (67.7%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	19 (4.3%)	$15,325			$809			$14,516	32.2	12.1	2584	836		060243614343
1749	Reagan Elementary	Public	K-8	340 North Harvard	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-1311	426	19	23	92.5%	26 (6.1%)	1 (0.2%)	394 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	$24,221			$4,056			$20,165	32.2	48	1215	534		062187012687
1750	El Portal Middle	Public	6-8	805 First St.	Escalon	95320	San Joaquin County	Escalon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 838-7095	587	30	19.6	55.4%	258 (44.0%)	6 (1.0%)	300 (51.1%)	9 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.4%)	$12,407			$731			$11,676	32.2	44.1	1338	412		061284001447
1751	Southern California Flex Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	8560 Aliento Rd.	Lucerne Valley	92356	San Bernardino County	Southern California Flex Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(818) 396-8818	505	24	20.7	75.6%	80 (15.8%)	92 (18.2%)	304 (60.2%)	10 (2.0%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.8%)	$14,231			$488			$13,743	32.1	20.5	2244	493		060195614359

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.