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)
061029009356	451	Christa McAuliffe	Public	K-8	12211 Titus Ave.	Saratoga	95070	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 253-4696	402	18	22.1	12.7%	123 (30.6%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (6.5%)	197 (49.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (12.9%)	$7,781							93.7	96.4	243	208
060753000723	452	Tularcitos Elementary	Public	K-5	35 Ford Rd.	Carmel Valley	93924	Monterey County	Carmel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 659-2276	442	22	20	20.8%	278 (62.9%)	1 (0.2%)	92 (20.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (15.6%)	$17,466							93.7	93.7	457	5
062970004609	453	Lunada Bay Elementary	Public	K-5	520 Paseo Lunado	Palos Verdes Estates	90274	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 377-3005	315	13	24.2	7.3%	187 (59.4%)	10 (3.2%)	55 (17.5%)	29 (9.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (10.5%)	$6,345							93.7	94.2	411	42
061233014065	454	Zehnder Ranch Elementary	Public	K-6	9880 Denali Cir.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 793-3300	1,035	41	25.2	23.5%	123 (11.9%)	67 (6.5%)	163 (15.7%)	570 (55.1%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (1.5%)	96 (9.3%)	$5,635							93.7	92.9	508	54
061524001941	455	Mountain Avenue Elementary	Public	K-6	2307 Mountain Ave.	La Crescenta	91214	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 248-7766	555	21	26.4	17.8%	306 (55.1%)	8 (1.4%)	84 (15.1%)	117 (21.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	37 (6.7%)	$6,616							93.7	93	500	45
061233010597	456	Elliott Ranch Elementary	Public	K-6	10000 East Taron Dr.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 683-3877	582	25	23.2	24.1%	90 (15.5%)	54 (9.3%)	149 (25.6%)	199 (34.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	82 (14.1%)	$6,313							93.7	92.9	507	51
063942006570	457	Riviera Elementary	Public	K-5	365 Paseo de Arena	Torrance	90505	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4460	624	26	24.2	12.2%	296 (47.4%)	7 (1.1%)	112 (17.9%)	112 (17.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	96 (15.4%)	$4,732							93.6	95.1	349	108
063570006091	458	Grant Elementary	Public	K-5	2368 Pearl St.	Santa Monica	90405	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 450-7651	542	30	18.1	26.9%	258 (47.6%)	53 (9.8%)	149 (27.5%)	59 (10.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.1%)	$7,056							93.6	91.4	608	150
061704014573	459	Hermosa Vista	Public	2-4	417 25Th St.	Hermosa Beach	90254	Los Angeles County	Hermosa Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 937-5877	242	11	22.3	7.0%	143 (59.1%)	1 (0.4%)	38 (15.7%)	8 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (21.5%)								93.6	94.1	423	36
061422001626	460	Gisler (Robert) Elementary	Public	K-5	18720 Las Flores St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4211	475	19	25	23.2%	157 (33.1%)	1 (0.2%)	96 (20.2%)	143 (30.1%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	73 (15.4%)	$10,125							93.6	89.4	747	287

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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