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)
061029001146	1121	Chester W. Nimitz Elementary	Public	K-5	545 East Cheyenne Dr.	Sunnyvale	94087	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 736-2180	419	18	22.7	48.9%	77 (18.4%)	12 (2.9%)	143 (34.1%)	143 (34.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (10.0%)	$6,768							80.8	75.8	1338	217
061233011065	1122	Helen Carr Castello Elementary	Public	K-6	9850 Fire Poppy Dr.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-1725	836	34	24.5	31.9%	123 (14.7%)	65 (7.8%)	172 (20.6%)	369 (44.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.6%)	102 (12.2%)	$6,700							80.8	84.4	981	141
062637003974	1123	Strandwood Elementary	Public	K-5	416 Gladys Dr.	Pleasant Hill	94523	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 685-3212	578	21	28.1	10.2%	300 (51.9%)	5 (0.9%)	105 (18.2%)	78 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	87 (15.1%)	$11,247							80.8	85.8	925	198
061275001436	1124	Ocean Knoll Elementary	Public	K-6	910 Melba Rd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	Encinitas Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 944-4351	523	22	23.7	31.2%	272 (52.0%)	2 (0.4%)	195 (37.3%)	15 (2.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	37 (7.1%)	$15,995							80.7	87	869	255
060744009523	1125	George White Elementary	Public	K-5	25422 Chapparosa Park Rd.	Laguna Niguel	92677	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 249-3875	396	16	24.7	40.9%	219 (55.3%)	5 (1.3%)	103 (26.0%)	13 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (14.1%)	$10,092							80.7	83.2	1044	81
062664004036	1126	Vichy Elementary	Public	K-5	3261 Vichy Ave.	Napa	94558	Napa County	Napa Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 253-3544	297	12	25.6	39.4%	189 (63.6%)	2 (0.7%)	62 (20.9%)	11 (3.7%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	31 (10.4%)	$6,797							80.7	76.6	1298	172
062513003741	1127	Lakewood Elementary	Public	K-6	2920 Middleboro Pl.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-8152	368	19	19.7	34.0%	144 (39.1%)	12 (3.3%)	143 (38.9%)	21 (5.7%)	3 (0.8%)	4 (1.1%)	41 (11.1%)	$13,951							80.6	83.2	1042	85
061473001793	1128	Golden Hill School for Creative & Performing Arts	Public	K-6	732 Barris Dr.	Fullerton	92832	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-7715	616	22	28	33.3%	252 (40.9%)	7 (1.1%)	249 (40.4%)	56 (9.1%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	49 (8.0%)	$4,885							80.6	82.1	1087	41
062718004096	1129	Old Orchard Elementary	Public	K-6	25141 North Avenida Rondel	Valencia	91355	Los Angeles County	Newhall	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 291-4040	504	22	22.9	47.0%	165 (32.7%)	6 (1.2%)	280 (55.6%)	8 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (8.7%)	$13,128							80.5	76.9	1283	154
060191310405	1130	Charter School of Morgan Hill	Public, Charter	K-8	9530 Monterey Rd.	Morgan Hill	95037	Santa Clara County	Charter School of Morgan Hill District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 463-0618	654	34	19.4	8.1%	292 (44.6%)	4 (0.6%)	209 (32.0%)	76 (11.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	71 (10.9%)								80.5	84.9	957	173

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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