Iron Horse Middle School Named As Best In Contra Costa County

SAN RAMON, CA — Iron Horse Middle School has been named as the top middle school in Contra Costa County according to new rankings from the education platform Niche.

Niche’s 2024 Best Schools and Districts rankings include data on 94,058 public schools, 30,809 private schools and 12,192 school districts.

This year’s rankings include more than 25,000 middle schools, including 68 middle schools in Contra Costa County.

Niche gave Dougherty Valley High School a letter grade of A+. Grades in specific categories were:

Academics: A

Teachers: A

Diversity: A

The school, which has 1,020 students in grades 6-8 with a student-teacher ratio of 23 to 1, received high marks from students, parents and teachers.

For more information, read the full report on Iron Horse Middle School.

The platform said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they’re not familiar with yet.

The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.

The San Ramon Valley Unified School District was named one of the top school districts in the Bay Area coming in at No. 9.

Here are the full rankings of the top 25 school districts in the Bay Area:

1. Palo Alto Unified School District, Palo Alto, A+
2. Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, Los Gatos and Saratoga, A+
3. Fremont Union High School District, Sunnyvale, A+
4. Tamalpais Union High School District, Larkspur, A+
5. Acalanes Union High School District, Lafayette, A+
6. San Mateo Union High School District, San Mateo, A+
7. Pleasanton Unified School District, Pleasanton, A+
8. Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, Mountain View and Los Altos, A+
9. San Ramon Valley Unified School District, San Ramon, Danville, and Blackhawk, A+
10. Piedmont City Unified School District, Piedmont, A+
11. Sequoia Union High School District, San Mateo County, A+
12. Dublin Unified School District, Dublin, A+
13. Santa Clara Unified School District, Santa Clara, A
14. Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley, A
15. Albany City Unified School District, Albany, A
16. Castro Valley Unified School District, Castro Valley, A
17. Alameda Unified School District, Alameda, A
18. Fremont Unified School District, Fremont, A
19. Campbell Union High School District, Campbell and San Jose, A
20. San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, A
21. Liberty Union High School District, Brentwood and Oakley, A
22. East Side Union High School District, San Jose, A
23. New Haven Unified School District, Union City, A-
24. Benicia Unified School District, Benicia, A-
25. Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, Livermore, A-

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