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 Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2023 vs 2022)
ID	Rank (of 2788)	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 (2023)	Average Standard Score (2022)	Rank (2022)	Rank Change from 2022	SchoolDigger Rating (2023)
063474002797	321	SLVUSD Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	325 Marion Ave.	Ben Lomond	95005	Santa Cruz County	San Lorenzo Valley Unified	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(831) 335-0932	330	13	25	22.1%	251 (76.1%)	2 (0.6%)	32 (9.7%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (13.0%)	$9,079							88.2	89.3	288	33
063375008956	322	Stanley G. Oswalt Academy	Public	K-8	19501 Shadow Oak Dr.	Walnut	91789	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(626) 810-4109	900	38	23.6	54.3%	26 (2.9%)	20 (2.2%)	378 (42.0%)	431 (47.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.7%)	39 (4.3%)								88.1	84.5	395	73
061350001543	323	Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary	Public	K-8	110 Marine Dr.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(760) 731-4050	756	34	22.5	28.4%	362 (47.9%)	59 (7.8%)	225 (29.8%)	11 (1.5%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	93 (12.3%)	$6,395							88.1			(n/a)
060846008808	324	Robert O. Townsend Junior High	Public	7-8	15359 Ilex Dr.	Chino Hills	91709	San Bernardino County	Chino Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(909) 591-2161	972	40	24	28.5%	178 (18.3%)	39 (4.0%)	411 (42.3%)	306 (31.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	35 (3.6%)	$9,352							88.1	86.3	356	32
063488011403	325	San Elijo Middle	Public	6-8	1600 Schhouse Way	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(760) 290-2800	1,496	61	24.3	17.4%	910 (60.8%)	15 (1.0%)	324 (21.7%)	133 (8.9%)	2 (0.1%)	6 (0.4%)	105 (7.0%)	$6,252							88.1	87.9	321	4
061788007291	326	Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes	Public	K-8	16633 Elizabeth Lake Rd.	Lake Hughes	93532	Los Angeles County	Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(661) 724-1231	162	9	18.2	46.9%	105 (64.8%)	2 (1.2%)	51 (31.5%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)								87.8			(n/a)
063432005275	327	Language Academy	Public	K-8	4961 64th St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(619) 287-1182	1,007	45	22.1	42.8%	254 (25.2%)	129 (12.8%)	506 (50.2%)	16 (1.6%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	97 (9.6%)	$7,060							87.7	77.6	535	208
062785011539	328	Oak Park Independent	Public, Alternative	K-12	5801 Conifer St.	Oak Park	91377	Ventura County	Oak Park Unified	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(818) 735-3260	240	7	32.6	10.8%	135 (56.3%)	18 (7.5%)	38 (15.8%)	29 (12.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (7.9%)	$7,444							87.7	92.2	218	110
060147314298	329	Classical Academy Vista	Public, Charter	K-8	2022 Univ Dr	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Classical Academy Vista District	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(760) 330-9800	643	27	24.1	24.9%	408 (63.5%)	2 (0.3%)	132 (20.5%)	18 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	81 (12.6%)								87.7	86.2	362	33
061716008411	330	Hickman Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	13306 Fourth St.	Hickman	95323	Stanislaus County	Hickman Community Charter	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(209) 874-1816	158	7	22.8	47.5%	79 (50.0%)	2 (1.3%)	65 (41.1%)	3 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	7 (4.4%)	$8,969							87.6	80.9	453	123

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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 English Language Learner 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 18, 2023, 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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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. School Attendance Areas provided by ATTOM.