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 10, 2024.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)					ID
Rank (of 2777)	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 (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)	ID
1701	Voices College-Bound Language Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	715 Hellyer Ave.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Voices College-Bound Language Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 361-1960	337	9	37.4	70.9%	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	325 (96.4%)	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.5%)	$20,295			$3,021			$17,274	33	35	1633	68		060199312031
1702	Napa Valley Independent Studies	Public, Alternative	K-12	1600 Myrtle Ave.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 259-8577	124	6	19.4	66.1%	32 (25.8%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (65.3%)	6 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.0%)	$16,703			$2,582			$14,121	33	32.8	1708	6		062664011271
1703	Vaughn Next Century Learning Center	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	13330 Vaughn St.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Vaughn Next Century Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 896-7461	2,738	140	19.5	97.0%	16 (0.6%)	10 (0.4%)	2,695 (98.4%)	11 (0.4%)	1 (0.0%)	1 (0.0%)	4 (0.1%)	$21,935			$5,067			$16,868	32.9	27.5	1931	228		060189803426
1704	KIPP Academy of Innovation	Public, Charter	5-8	4240 East Olympic Blvd.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	KIPP Academy of Innovation District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 406-8000	492	19	25.8	88.2%	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	481 (97.8%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$21,030			$3,118			$17,912	32.9	42.2	1397	307		060238413691
1705	Andros Karperos	Public	K-8	1700 Camino de Flores	Yuba City	95993	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-4440	1,143	54	21.2	77.5%	164 (14.3%)	12 (1.0%)	463 (40.5%)	430 (37.6%)	13 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (5.3%)								32.8	37.4	1548	157		064347011377
1706	Cleveland Elementary	Public	K-8	20 East Fulton St.	Stockton	95204	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7165	610	27	22.6	80.7%	29 (4.8%)	56 (9.2%)	408 (66.9%)	81 (13.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (5.2%)	$16,310			$3,374			$12,936	32.8	33	1698	8		063801006400
1707	California Connections Academy Central Valley	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5313 Road 39	Alpaugh	93201	Tulare County	California Connections Academy Central Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 571-2300	867	20	43.3	67.4%	268 (30.9%)	24 (2.8%)	435 (50.2%)	14 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	115 (13.3%)	$13,398			$917			$12,481	32.8	37.2	1555	152		060241111819
1708	Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex	Public, Charter	6-12	5356 South Fifth Ave.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 596-2290	970	47	20.4	95.3%	1 (0.1%)	66 (6.8%)	895 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.8%)	$20,410			$2,136			$18,274	32.8	19.1	2322	614		060226611641
1709	Para Los Ninos Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	835 Stanford Ave.	Los Angeles	90021	Los Angeles County	Para Los Ninos Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 896-2640	313	17	18.1	89.8%	10 (3.2%)	12 (3.8%)	285 (91.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.3%)	$23,971			$6,600			$17,371	32.8	16.1	2462	753		060235112361
1710	Herbert Hoover Middle	Public	6-8	1635 Park Ave.	San Jose	95126	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6274	924	47	19.7	63.2%	102 (11.0%)	30 (3.2%)	714 (77.3%)	40 (4.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	36 (3.9%)	$21,026			$855			$20,171	32.8	33.4	1688	22		063459005720

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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 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 10, 2024, 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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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