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)
063386000770	561	Portola Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	19422 Saddleback Ranch Rd.	Trabuco Canyon	92679	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 459-9370	742	28	26.9	16.8%	352 (47.4%)	8 (1.1%)	110 (14.8%)	155 (20.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	115 (15.5%)	$5,437							92.1	94	434	127
060221314196	562	WISH Community	Public, Charter	K-8	6550 West 80th St.	Los Angeles	90045	Los Angeles County	WISH Community District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 642-9474	850	38	22.5	19.8%	284 (33.4%)	175 (20.6%)	216 (25.4%)	73 (8.6%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	98 (11.5%)								92.1	90.6	670	108
063509005940	563	Sun Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	75 Happy Ln.	San Rafael	94901	Marin County	San Rafael City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 485-2440	473	21	22.5	29.4%	263 (55.6%)	4 (0.8%)	137 (29.0%)	24 (5.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (8.9%)	$7,142							92.1	93	504	59
061029001132	564	Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary	Public	K-5	277 Rodonovan Dr.	Santa Clara	95051	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 248-4313	401	19	21.6	22.7%	52 (13.0%)	7 (1.7%)	43 (10.7%)	253 (63.1%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (10.5%)	$7,539							92.1	94.2	408	156
061275001435	565	Flora Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	1690 Wandering Rd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	Encinitas Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 944-4329	408	18	22.6	9.6%	295 (72.3%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (13.2%)	21 (5.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (9.1%)	$8,806							92.1	93.5	472	93
062308003526	566	Ocean View Elementary	Public	K-6	1208 Linda Dr.	Arroyo Grande	93420	San Luis Obispo County	Lucia Mar Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 474-3730	525	24	21.9	33.3%	320 (61.0%)	5 (1.0%)	117 (22.3%)	22 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (11.4%)	$4,560							92	89.3	755	189
060372000343	567	Ballard Elementary	Public	K-6	2425 School St.	Solvang	93463	Santa Barbara County	Ballard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 688-4812	118	7	16.8	10.2%	90 (76.3%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (13.6%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (8.5%)								92	97.3	161	406
062805004239	568	Chabot Elementary	Public	K-5	6686 Chabot Rd.	Oakland	94618	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2106	567	24	23.6	26.5%	253 (44.6%)	73 (12.9%)	81 (14.3%)	29 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	128 (22.6%)	$6,414							92	89.5	741	173
062271003178	569	Melrose Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	731 North Detroit St.	Los Angeles	90046	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 938-6275	440	18	24.4	41.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,924							92	94.9	363	206
062937004527	570	Robert Down Elementary	Public	K-5	485 Pine Ave.	Pacific Grove	93950	Monterey County	Pacific Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 646-6540	408	23	18.1	14.7%	268 (65.7%)	6 (1.5%)	67 (16.4%)	27 (6.6%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	34 (8.3%)	$9,890							92	93.4	476	94

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.