Special report: O.C.’s best middle schools

Seventh-graders Conner Kuwahara, 12, front, and Mahir Oza, 12, use iPads in their world history class Feb. 21 at El Rancho Charter School in Anaheim Hills.
Nicole Chemali, 13, participates in her world history lesson with an iPad on Feb. 21 at El Rancho Charter School.
Brian An, left, Nyenty Takang and Andrew Tankersley practice Feb. 21 in orchestra class at El Rancho Charter School in Anaheim Hills.
Orchard Hills Middle School students Jeffrey Yang, left, and Harry Park work on a 3D modeling program.
Orchard Hills Middle School teacher Erin Lent helps student Alex Shellow work on a 3D modeling program.
Orchard Hills Middle School students head to their classes on the Irvine campus on Monday. Orchard Hills won a California Distinguished Schools award in 2013.
Orchard Hills Middle School students Amir Zafary, left, Randy Ibarra and Rozlynn Cabral work on quadratic equations with the help of graphing calculators in their math class.
Ladera Ranch Middle School students lead a presentation on simplemindedness with their group during Associated Student Body class in October 2013.
Riran Kawakami, an eighth-grade student at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, works on her Andy Warhol project depicting Sacagawea in January 2011.
Student Brandon Clark concentrates in his geometry tutorial class at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin in January 2011.

By Elysse James | Orange County Register

March 14, 2014 at 1:27 p.m.

At Orange County’s top middle schools, teachers customize the experience for every child.

The schools offer a range of social and academic paths to appeal to all students, so that each child becomes an integral part of the campus community. And school administrators foster creativity by encouraging new ideas that allow students to thrive.

The Orange County Register’s sixth annual Best Middle Schools Report examines 88 campuses, ranking academics and environment to determine which are the county’s best.

Strong academics and creativity rocketed El Rancho Charter School to the No. 1 spot this year, the first time a charter school has earned that honor in a Register school ranking.

Click here to explore the data behind the rankings, including Academic Performance Indexes, diversity, fitness scores and algebra proficiency.

Read the analysis

2014 top middle schools: The best schools help students find their place, academically and socially, as they prepare for the challenges of high school.

In-depth profiles

No. 1 El Rancho Charter: Teacher choice and student creativity come together at one fo the county’s first charter schools — which is also the first charter to earn a top spot in the Register’s annual school rankings.
No. 3 Orchard Hills: Students are encouraged to find the intersection of their talents and passions at this Irvine school, which rocketed to the top 10 in our rankings on its first year of inclusion.

Explore the data behind the rankings

Database: Examine more than a dozen measures of success, from the Academic Performance Index to algebra proficiency, class size to diversity, for 88 ranked middle schools.

Review earlier rankings