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)
060250014435	1281	Excel Academy Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1 Technology Dr.	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Excel Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 387-7822	1,048	59	17.8	39.0%	424 (40.5%)	27 (2.6%)	302 (28.8%)	167 (15.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	127 (12.1%)								77.1	82.6	1072	209
063468005841	1282	Roosevelt Elementary	Public	K-5	951 Dowling Blvd.	San Leandro	94577	Alameda County	San Leandro Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 618-4350	516	21	24.5	43.6%	123 (23.8%)	63 (12.2%)	181 (35.1%)	72 (14.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	72 (14.0%)	$5,722							77.1	74.4	1409	127
060177013107	1283	Maya Lin	Public	K-5	825 Taylor Ave.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4007	469	19	24.6	34.3%	166 (35.4%)	21 (4.5%)	92 (19.6%)	88 (18.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	102 (21.7%)	$15,726							77.1	69.9	1587	304
060363007101	1284	Downtown Elementary	Public	K-8	2021 M St.	Bakersfield	93301	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5920	323	15	22	31.3%	105 (32.5%)	13 (4.0%)	180 (55.7%)	14 (4.3%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$8,654							77	81.3	1119	165
063386007199	1285	SVUSD Virtual Academy (Alternative)	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	25952 Cordillera Dr.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 830-3400	202	13	15	40.1%	87 (43.1%)	4 (2.0%)	50 (24.8%)	36 (17.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	23 (11.4%)								77			(n/a)
063597009637	1286	James Foster Elementary	Public	K-6	22500 Pamplico Dr.	Saugus	91350	Los Angeles County	Saugus Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 294-5355	487	17	28.6	31.6%	227 (46.6%)	13 (2.7%)	169 (34.7%)	33 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (9.2%)	$9,766							77	80.5	1154	132
063255014119	1287	West County Mandarin	Public	K-8	1575 Mann Dr.	Pinole	94564	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1453	397	18	22	31.7%	27 (6.8%)	31 (7.8%)	117 (29.5%)	147 (37.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (18.9%)	$11,638							77	75.5	1353	66
063153010007	1288	Turtleback Elementary	Public	K-5	15855 Turtleback Rd.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 673-5514	506	24	21.3	18.2%	191 (37.7%)	12 (2.4%)	85 (16.8%)	150 (29.6%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	63 (12.5%)	$7,252							77	82	1097	191
062724004117	1289	Killybrooke Elementary	Public	K-6	3155 Killybrooke Ln.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7945	423	21	20.4	69.5%	87 (20.6%)	9 (2.1%)	266 (62.9%)	25 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	35 (8.3%)								77	80	1170	119
063480005877	1290	Pacheco Elementary	Public	K-6	261 Cuesta Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4081	482	21	22.9	36.5%	164 (34.0%)	3 (0.6%)	288 (59.8%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.4%)	$12,683							77	67.6	1691	401

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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