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)
060363000307	5561	Longfellow Elementary	Public	K-6	1900 Stockton St.	Bakersfield	93305	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5350	764	38	19.8	97.4%	48 (6.3%)	74 (9.7%)	629 (82.3%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.2%)	$8,122							11.8	11.2	5639	78
062958009609	5562	Summerwind Elementary	Public	K-5	39360 Summerwind Dr.	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 947-3863	569	21	26.8	84.4%	31 (5.4%)	119 (20.9%)	388 (68.2%)	13 (2.3%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.3%)	$362							11.7	14.1	5396	166
060175514027	5563	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	701 105th Ave.	Oakland	94603	Alameda County	Lodestar: A Lighthouse Community Charter Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 775-0255	739	47	15.7	89.3%	1 (0.1%)	90 (12.2%)	590 (79.8%)	6 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.8%)	44 (6.0%)								11.7	22.1	4649	914
060209411199	5564	St. HOPE Public School 7	Public, Charter	K-8	5201 Strawberry Ln.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	St. HOPE Public School 7 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 649-7850	517	25	20.8	85.5%	11 (2.1%)	288 (55.7%)	145 (28.0%)	12 (2.3%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (10.6%)								11.7	16.8	5172	392
063441005591	5565	Harte (Bret) Elementary	Public	K-5	1035 Gilman Ave.	San Francisco	94124	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 330-1520	247	11	22.4	83.8%	2 (0.8%)	44 (17.8%)	151 (61.1%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (8.5%)	25 (10.1%)	$6,103							11.7	11.5	5614	49
062271003099	5566	YES Academy	Public	K-5	3140 Hyde Park Blvd.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 778-4992	459	22	20.8	92.4%	2 (0.4%)	144 (31.4%)	292 (63.6%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.5%)	$11,683							11.7	12	5574	8
060231000103	5567	A. J. Dorsa Elementary	Public	K-5	1290 Bal Harbor Dr.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7400	286	14	20.4	87.1%	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	259 (90.6%)	16 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	6 (2.1%)	$14,116							11.7	12.2	5552	15
060558011437	5568	Liberty Elementary	Public	K-6	1300 West Sonya Ln.	Santa Maria	93458	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-4530	873	43	20.2	90.1%	24 (2.7%)	7 (0.8%)	803 (92.0%)	29 (3.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	$7,468							11.6	15.7	5257	311
064113006784	5569	Vineland Elementary	Public	K-4	14327 S. Vineland Rd.	Bakersfield	93307	Kern County	Vineland Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 845-3719	346	20	17.3	99.7%	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	342 (98.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$7,772							11.6	9.4	5735	166
060249614410	5570	KIPP Pueblo Unido	Public, Charter	K-8	3759 East 57th St.	Maywood	90270	Los Angeles County	KIPP Pueblo Unido District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 364-6537	289	17	17.1	83.7%	2 (0.7%)	6 (2.1%)	278 (96.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)								11.6			(n/a)

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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