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
141	Jefferson	Public	5-8	7500 West Linne Rd.	Tracy	95304	San Joaquin County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 835-3053	388	17	22.2	25.5%	71 (18.3%)	9 (2.3%)	111 (28.6%)	174 (44.8%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	18 (4.6%)	$14,357			$1,546			$12,811	95.3	96.6	103	38		061884002277
142	Sarah McGarvin Intermediate	Public	7-8	9802 Bishop Pl.	Westminster	92683	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6218	717	27	26.3	72.7%	29 (4.0%)	1 (0.1%)	152 (21.2%)	512 (71.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	19 (2.6%)	$16,616			$1,858			$14,758	95.3	96.9	96	46		061488001861
143	Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High	Public	7-9	1220 Drexel Dr.	Davis	95616	Yolo County	Davis Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 757-5445	588	31	19.2	24.5%	257 (43.7%)	16 (2.7%)	94 (16.0%)	154 (26.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	62 (10.5%)	$17,797			$1,064			$16,733	95.3	94.4	175	32		061062001178
144	Oak Middle	Public	6-8	10821 Oak St.	Los Alamitos	90720	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4740	998	38	26.2	14.5%	396 (39.7%)	16 (1.6%)	270 (27.1%)	212 (21.2%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.5%)	96 (9.6%)	$13,782			$517			$13,265	95.3	96.2	116	28		062259004805
145	Downtown Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	2000 Dennison St.	Oakland	94606	Alameda County	Downtown Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 535-1580	305	14	21.9	75.4%	2 (0.7%)	24 (7.9%)	40 (13.1%)	232 (76.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.0%)	$27,589			$1,644			$25,945	95.2	94.5	171	26		060149313752
146	Jacoby Creek	Public	K-8	1617 Old Arcata Rd.	Bayside	95524	Humboldt County	Jacoby Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-4896	455	22	20.5	34.9%	330 (72.5%)	2 (0.4%)	47 (10.3%)	9 (2.0%)	6 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (13.2%)	$13,732			$1,104			$12,628	95.2	94.8	161	15		061866002271
147	Porter Ranch Community	Public	K-8	12450 Mason Ave.	Porter Ranch	91326	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 709-7100	1,312	55	23.8	22.0%	311 (23.7%)	53 (4.0%)	203 (15.5%)	492 (37.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	252 (19.2%)	$15,061			$2,209			$12,852	95.2	94.6	168	21		062271013175
148	Venado Middle	Public	7-8	4 Deerfield Ave.	Irvine	92604	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6800	506	24	20.9	20.8%	99 (19.6%)	4 (0.8%)	80 (15.8%)	263 (52.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	58 (11.5%)	$16,643			$863			$15,780	95.2	93.7	194	46		068450007069
149	El Rancho Charter	Public, Charter	7-8	181 South Del Giorgio Rd.	Anaheim	92808	Orange County	Orange Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6238	1,144	38	29.9	32.1%	402 (35.1%)	31 (2.7%)	314 (27.4%)	300 (26.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	95 (8.3%)	$20,478			$1,430			$19,048	95.2	94.1	181	32		062865004426
150	Oxford Preparatory Academy - Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	22882 Loumont Dr.	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Oxford Preparatory Academy - Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 600-9050	495	22	22.6	18.4%	172 (34.7%)	12 (2.4%)	100 (20.2%)	152 (30.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (11.7%)								95.2	95.2	147	3		069114114672

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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