Best Elementary Schools in California

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Find the best California elementary 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 (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 5862)	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)
060199013191	3961	California Virtual Academy @ San Joaquin	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy @ San Joaquin District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	2,561	90	28.5	63.9%	635 (24.8%)	486 (19.0%)	943 (36.8%)	349 (13.6%)	26 (1.0%)	32 (1.2%)	90 (3.5%)								29.5	33.6	3607	354
062805004287	3962	Laurel Elementary	Public	K-5	3750 Brown Ave.	Oakland	94619	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2131	424	16	26.5	81.6%	26 (6.1%)	132 (31.1%)	118 (27.8%)	89 (21.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	50 (11.8%)	$6,001							29.5	19	4957	995
061455005749	3963	J. E. Young Academic Center	Public, Alternative	K-12	822 North Abby St.	Fresno	93701	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3190	1,820	78	23.2	92.0%	152 (8.4%)	157 (8.6%)	1,225 (67.3%)	202 (11.1%)	14 (0.8%)	12 (0.7%)	55 (3.0%)	$24,015							29.5	20.8	4783	820
063198004920	3964	Bidwell Elementary	Public	K-5	1256 Walnut St.	Red Bluff	96080	Tehama County	Red Bluff Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 527-7171	369	18	20.2	75.9%	207 (56.1%)	7 (1.9%)	121 (32.8%)	3 (0.8%)	11 (3.0%)	5 (1.4%)	15 (4.1%)	$11,162							29.5	27.4	4140	176
060011607170	3965	Chawanakee Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	45077 Road 200	O Neals	93645	Madera County	Chawanakee Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 868-4200	206	10	21.6	51.0%	136 (66.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (21.4%)	3 (1.5%)	8 (3.9%)	1 (0.5%)	13 (6.3%)	$9,702							29.5	23.9	4472	507
063003011495	3966	Apricot Valley Elementary	Public	K-6	1320 Henley Pkwy.	Patterson	95363	Stanislaus County	Patterson Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 892-4700	833	34	24.1	65.7%	73 (8.8%)	77 (9.2%)	518 (62.2%)	64 (7.7%)	5 (0.6%)	16 (1.9%)	80 (9.6%)								29.5	29.5	3934	32
063060004747	3967	Heights Elementary	Public	K-5	163 Alturas Ave.	Pittsburg	94565	Contra Costa County	Pittsburg Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 473-2410	532	25	21.6	75.6%	18 (3.4%)	64 (12.0%)	391 (73.5%)	29 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.3%)	18 (3.4%)	$7,084							29.4	25.6	4303	336
060162000022	3968	Melbourne (Ella P.) Elementary	Public	K-6	21314 Claretta Ave.	Lakewood	90715	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7885	335	15	22.3	92.8%	9 (2.7%)	3 (0.9%)	290 (86.6%)	8 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	22 (6.6%)	$6,798							29.4	30.2	3865	103
060006409424	3969	Los Robles Elementary	Public	K-6	500 East Mulberry Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 782-7011	465	20	23.1	89.2%	47 (10.1%)	1 (0.2%)	393 (84.5%)	7 (1.5%)	4 (0.9%)	6 (1.3%)	7 (1.5%)	$5,721							29.4	32.2	3719	250
062361009916	3970	Stella Brockman Elementary	Public	K-8	763 Silverado Dr.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7200	717	29	24.3	49.0%	128 (17.9%)	29 (4.0%)	387 (54.0%)	124 (17.3%)	4 (0.6%)	9 (1.3%)	36 (5.0%)	$5,740							29.4	28.2	4056	86

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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 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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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