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)
060141408347	4101	Santa Barbara Community Academy	Public	K-6	850 Portesuello Ave.	Santa Barbara	93101	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 687-2081	202	12	16.5	85.6%	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	198 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$11,715							28.1	23.1	4553	452
060133205102	4102	Madison Elementary	Public	K-6	5241 Harrison St.	North Highlands	95660	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-1900	745	29	25.6	92.8%	88 (11.8%)	55 (7.4%)	388 (52.1%)	151 (20.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	56 (7.5%)								28.1	37	3348	754
062223002654	4103	Leroy Nichols Elementary	Public	K-6	1301 South Crescent Ave.	Lodi	95240	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7378	321	12	26.7	85.0%	64 (19.9%)	3 (0.9%)	214 (66.7%)	29 (9.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.8%)	$11,958							28.1	46.3	2739	1364
060148600162	4104	Palm Lane Global Academy	Public, Charter	K-6	1646 West Palm Ln.	Anaheim	92802	Orange County	Palm Lane Global Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(657) 213-8980	272	13	20.9	88.6%	1 (0.4%)	5 (1.8%)	238 (87.5%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (9.2%)								28.1	18.7	4979	875
060243614343	4105	Julia Lee Performing Arts Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	19740 Grand Ave.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Julia Lee Performing Arts Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 595-4500	442	11	39.7	57.2%	55 (12.4%)	64 (14.5%)	290 (65.6%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.1%)								28	23.8	4479	374
062334013804	4106	Eastin Arcola Elementary	Public	K-8	29551 Avenue 8	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 674-8841	208	12	16.6	95.2%	6 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	191 (91.8%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.8%)	$2,138							28	27.5	4123	17
060227505339	4107	McGill School of Success	Public, Charter	K-5	3025 Fir St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	McGill School of Success District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 629-0770	123	7	17.5	80.5%	5 (4.1%)	7 (5.7%)	108 (87.8%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)								28	25.3	4338	231
061336009814	4108	Dan O. Root Elementary	Public	K-8	820 Harrier Dr.	Suisun City	94585	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 421-4240	758	28	26.6	67.3%	109 (14.4%)	126 (16.6%)	341 (45.0%)	70 (9.2%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.2%)	101 (13.3%)	$5,973							28	25.5	4315	207
062691004071	4109	Hillview Crest Elementary	Public	K-5	31410 Wheelon Ave.	Hayward	94544	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 471-5720	423	16	26.4	75.7%	18 (4.3%)	14 (3.3%)	269 (63.6%)	75 (17.7%)	12 (2.8%)	9 (2.1%)	26 (6.1%)	$13,112							28	26.2	4251	142
063531006014	4110	Wilson Elementary	Public	K-5	1317 North Baker St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 564-8100	434	20	21.6	82.5%	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	424 (97.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	$7,520							27.9	27.8	4099	11

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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