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)
061350001539	2561	Fallbrook STEM Academy	Public	K-6	405 West Fallbrook St.	Fallbrook	92028	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4000	615	28	21.9	90.9%	69 (11.2%)	3 (0.5%)	532 (86.5%)	5 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$6,630							49.8	45	2826	265
060330001384	2562	San Benito Elementary	Public	K-5	4300 San Benito Rd.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 462-4330	405	15	26.9	54.1%	260 (64.2%)	2 (0.5%)	112 (27.7%)	6 (1.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (5.7%)	$8,797							49.8	50.9	2486	76
063432005542	2563	Ross Elementary	Public	K-5	7470 Bagdad St.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 800-5800	193	9	21.4	68.4%	36 (18.7%)	10 (5.2%)	80 (41.5%)	41 (21.2%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (13.0%)	$10,364							49.8	57.7	2161	402
063357005181	2564	Savannah Elementary	Public	K-6	3720 North Rio Hondo Ave.	Rosemead	91770	Los Angeles County	Rosemead Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 443-4015	387	18	21.7	80.9%	6 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	212 (54.8%)	154 (39.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.4%)	$7,741							49.8	47.8	2655	91
060175714337	2565	Suncoast Preparatory Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3857 Birch St. #297	Newport Beach	92660	Orange County	Suncoast Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(949) 994-6724	1,067	40	26.9	36.4%	478 (44.8%)	32 (3.0%)	353 (33.1%)	41 (3.8%)	4 (0.4%)	3 (0.3%)	153 (14.3%)								49.8			(n/a)
060861000862	2566	Hilltop Drive Elementary	Public	K-6	30 Murray St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Chula Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 422-8323	514	25	20.5	57.4%	32 (6.2%)	4 (0.8%)	438 (85.2%)	11 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (5.4%)	$11,193							49.8	59.4	2085	481
061473001803	2567	Richman Elementary	Public	K-6	700 South Richman Ave.	Fullerton	92832	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-7745	478	19	25.1	76.2%	23 (4.8%)	7 (1.5%)	395 (82.6%)	40 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.5%)	$5,532							49.7	52.3	2422	145
060002909511	2568	Rail Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	25030 Via Santee Rd.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1404	640	25	25.3	60.5%	154 (24.1%)	41 (6.4%)	319 (49.8%)	44 (6.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	78 (12.2%)								49.7	51.4	2468	100
061089001209	2569	Del Vista Math and Science Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	710 Quincy St.	Delano	93215	Kern County	Delano Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 721-5040	524	24	21.6	91.2%	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	488 (93.1%)	26 (5.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$10,052							49.7	39.4	3180	611
060639014239	2570	Dolores S. Whitley Tk-8	Public	K-8	2923 McKee Rd.	Bakersfield	93313	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 885-6600	1,092	48	22.6	86.4%	67 (6.1%)	52 (4.8%)	765 (70.1%)	168 (15.4%)	5 (0.5%)	5 (0.5%)	30 (2.7%)								49.7	53.5	2371	199

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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:

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

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.