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)
064032006678	221	Oster Elementary	Public	K-5	1855 Lencar Way	San Jose	95124	Santa Clara County	Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 266-8121	627	26	24.1	9.7%	148 (23.6%)	7 (1.1%)	113 (18.0%)	308 (49.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (8.1%)	$6,948							96.4	96.3	250	29
063441005639	222	Lawton Alternative	Public	K-8	1570 31st Ave.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2832	601	27	21.8	56.9%	29 (4.8%)	12 (2.0%)	34 (5.7%)	444 (73.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	80 (13.3%)	$6,103							96.4	94.3	407	185
063153010005	223	Deer Canyon Elementary	Public	K-5	13455 Russet Leaf Ln.	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 484-6064	362	16	22.9	8.6%	105 (29.0%)	3 (0.8%)	31 (8.6%)	179 (49.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (12.2%)	$9,306							96.4	98.2	75	148
062271003121	224	Lanai Road Elementary	Public	K-5	4241 Lanai Rd.	Encino	91436	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 788-1590	575	23	25	11.7%	428 (74.4%)	22 (3.8%)	50 (8.7%)	48 (8.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	24 (4.2%)	$8,731							96.4	97.1	177	47
063543006650	225	Washington Open Elementary	Public	K-5	270 Washington Ave.	Santa Clara	95050	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-3900	334	15	22.2	7.5%	119 (35.6%)	3 (0.9%)	43 (12.9%)	117 (35.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (15.6%)	$10,073							96.4	93.5	469	244
061314008631	226	James Franklin Smith Elementary	Public	K-6	2220 Woodbury Ln.	San Jose	95121	Santa Clara County	Evergreen Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 532-2150	613	25	25	7.0%	33 (5.4%)	11 (1.8%)	70 (11.4%)	458 (74.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (6.7%)	$6,049							96.4	97.6	130	96
063153003938	227	Park Village Elementary	Public	K-5	7930 Park Village Rd.	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 484-5621	634	26	24.1	8.2%	176 (27.8%)	3 (0.5%)	65 (10.3%)	327 (51.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	61 (9.6%)	$8,462							96.4	98.1	92	135
061473001790	228	Acacia Elementary	Public	K-6	1200 North Acacia Ave.	Fullerton	92831	Orange County	Fullerton Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 447-7700	668	23	29.6	26.0%	232 (34.7%)	10 (1.5%)	176 (26.3%)	184 (27.5%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (9.4%)	$4,926							96.4	96.6	227	1
061551001975	229	Mountain View Elementary	Public	K-6	5465 Queen Anne Ln.	Santa Barbara	93111	Santa Barbara County	Goleta Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 681-1284	356	18	20.3	16.6%	214 (60.1%)	2 (0.6%)	69 (19.4%)	20 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (14.3%)	$14,229							96.4	95.6	303	74
063492005912	230	College Park Elementary	Public	K-5	715-A Indian Ave.	San Mateo	94401	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7691	407	18	22.6	10.3%	8 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.6%)	286 (70.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	84 (20.6%)	$7,336							96.4	98	101	129

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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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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