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)
061218001381	3651	Rivera Elementary	Public	K-5	7250 Citronell St.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7650	479	18	26.6	84.8%	6 (1.3%)	2 (0.4%)	468 (97.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$4,741							33.3	30.9	3814	163
060861000873	3652	Rice (Lilian J.) Elementary	Public	K-6	915 Fourth Ave.	Chula Vista	91911	San Diego County	Chula Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 420-7071	592	28	21.1	68.6%	30 (5.1%)	15 (2.5%)	522 (88.2%)	16 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.5%)	$10,357							33.2	39.8	3154	498
060203013874	3653	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory	Public, Charter	K-8	2950 Fair Oaks Ave.	Redwood City	94063	San Mateo County	KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 465-5477	702	37	18.9	89.7%	8 (1.1%)	5 (0.7%)	666 (94.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	15 (2.1%)	3 (0.4%)								33.2	26.7	4205	552
062271003310	3654	Ritter Elementary	Public	K-5	11108 Watts Ave.	Los Angeles	90059	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 564-2478	284	14	20.2	97.5%	3 (1.1%)	45 (15.8%)	232 (81.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	$10,849							33.2	36.8	3377	277
063462005818	3655	Albert Schweitzer Elementary	Public	K-5	4350 Glenridge Dr.	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 867-2094	319	13	24.5	52.7%	195 (61.1%)	10 (3.1%)	57 (17.9%)	19 (6.0%)	4 (1.3%)	4 (1.3%)	30 (9.4%)	$6,913							33.2	34.5	3537	118
061970002371	3656	McCord Elementary	Public	K-5	333 Center St.	Orange Cove	93646	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7250	405	19	21.3	96.5%	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	394 (97.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (1.0%)	$5,918							33.2	33.6	3611	45
064215010266	3657	Finley Elementary	Public	K-5	13521 Edwards St.	Westminster	92683	Orange County	Westminster	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 895-7764	323	15	21.5	79.6%	14 (4.3%)	5 (1.5%)	208 (64.4%)	81 (25.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	11 (3.4%)	$6,165							33.2	35.4	3470	187
062334003546	3658	Howard Elementary	Public	K-8	13878 Road 21 1/2	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 674-8568	503	21	24.4	80.1%	44 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	436 (86.7%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.8%)	$1,256							33.2	28.2	4053	395
063432005473	3659	Hamilton Elementary	Public	K-5	2807 Fairmount Ave.	San Diego	92105	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-6800	433	20	21.6	93.5%	12 (2.8%)	68 (15.7%)	300 (69.3%)	33 (7.6%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	14 (3.2%)	$9,365							33.2	37.9	3289	370
060003614537	3660	Larry G. Meeks Academy	Public, Virtual	K-8	2775 Millcreek Dr.	Sacramento	95833	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 567-5608	198	12	16.5	76.3%	20 (10.1%)	49 (24.7%)	57 (28.8%)	39 (19.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	30 (15.2%)								33.2	34.1	3570	90

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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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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