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)
060193710408	5001	Lighthouse Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	444 Hegenberger St.	Oakland	94621	Alameda County	Lighthouse Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 562-8801	544	27	19.8	94.7%	12 (2.2%)	40 (7.4%)	475 (87.3%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	12 (2.2%)								18.2	21.6	4698	303
060558010659	5002	Taylor (Ida Redmond) Elementary	Public	K-6	1921 North Carlotti Dr.	Santa Maria	93454	Santa Barbara County	Santa Maria-Bonita	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 361-6250	833	38	22.1	82.0%	42 (5.0%)	3 (0.4%)	739 (88.7%)	37 (4.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.2%)	$7,949							18.2	19	4955	47
064059006704	5003	Edwin Markham Elementary	Public	K-6	101 Markham Ave.	Vacaville	95688	Solano County	Vacaville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 453-6230	882	35	25.1	60.0%	117 (13.3%)	77 (8.7%)	595 (67.5%)	35 (4.0%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	53 (6.0%)	$5,635							18.2	22	4668	335
060681008590	5004	Cajon Valley Home	Public, Virtual	K-8	2962 Jamul Dr.	El Cajon	92019	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 588-3128	254	12	21.7	71.7%	66 (26.0%)	16 (6.3%)	140 (55.1%)	10 (3.9%)	2 (0.8%)	4 (1.6%)	16 (6.3%)	$10,167							18.2	46	2760	2244
061437001649	5005	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-6	651 Macredes Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 283-6350	236	13	18.8	64.0%	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	204 (86.4%)	27 (11.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)								18.2	30.1	3885	1120
063132004860	5006	San Jose Elementary	Public	K-8	2015 Cadillac Dr.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4670	528	27	19.9	94.1%	10 (1.9%)	37 (7.0%)	458 (86.7%)	8 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	11 (2.1%)	$4,752							18.2	21.3	4720	286
062271012524	5007	UCLA Community K-12	Public, Alternative	K-12	700 South Mariposa Ave.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 480-3750	941	51	18.4	95.3%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,362							18.2	18.2	5029	22
060285011276	5008	Lone Tree Elementary	Public	K-5	1931 Mokelumne Dr.	Antioch	94531	Contra Costa County	Antioch Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 779-7480	513	25	20.4	61.8%	36 (7.0%)	127 (24.8%)	232 (45.2%)	75 (14.6%)	6 (1.2%)	8 (1.6%)	28 (5.5%)	$6,016							18.2	18.1	5039	31
064119011769	5009	Maryland Elementary	Public	K-5	700 North Ave.	Vista	92084	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-6675	478	21	23.3	90.0%	20 (4.2%)	3 (0.6%)	441 (92.3%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.9%)	$8,157							18.2	17.9	5066	57
063003012186	5010	Walnut Grove Elementary	Public	K-6	775 North Hartley St.	Patterson	95363	Stanislaus County	Patterson Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 892-4770	666	33	20.4	82.4%	34 (5.1%)	13 (2.0%)	571 (85.7%)	18 (2.7%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	26 (3.9%)								18.1	23.4	4519	491

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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

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