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)
063697007877	1651	Wrightwood Elementary	Public	K-5	1175 State Highway 2	Wrightwood	92397	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 249-5828	344	14	24.5	52.9%	198 (57.6%)	3 (0.9%)	91 (26.5%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (14.0%)	$7,754							68.7	63.8	1852	201
063753006345	1652	Junipero Serra Elementary	Public	K-5	151 Victoria St.	Daly City	94015	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8853	291	15	19.4	27.1%	9 (3.1%)	3 (1.0%)	64 (22.0%)	189 (64.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	25 (8.6%)	$5,484							68.7	72.8	1472	180
062400003610	1653	Mark West Elementary	Public	K-6	4600 Lavell Rd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Mark West Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2990	397	20	19.7	46.9%	189 (47.6%)	1 (0.3%)	157 (39.5%)	18 (4.5%)	5 (1.3%)	5 (1.3%)	20 (5.0%)	$8,872							68.7	63.7	1859	206
062577013806	1654	Latimer	Public	K-8	4250 Latimer Ave.	San Jose	95130	Santa Clara County	Moreland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 874-3600	492	25	19.8	43.3%	100 (20.3%)	17 (3.5%)	209 (42.5%)	116 (23.6%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.4%)	40 (8.1%)	$5,700							68.7	68.2	1661	7
060645000567	1655	Ralph Emerson Elementary	Public	K-5	720 East Cypress Ave.	Burbank	91501	Los Angeles County	Burbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 729-1200	566	24	24	31.4%	366 (64.7%)	9 (1.6%)	88 (15.5%)	42 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (10.6%)	$11,077							68.5	68	1675	20
061716002171	1656	Hickman Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	13306 Fourth St. Area A	Hickman	95323	Stanislaus County	Hickman Community Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 874-1816	289	12	24	37.4%	162 (56.1%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (37.7%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.2%)	$9,223							68.5	66.1	1756	100
060330000254	1657	Santa Margarita Elementary	Public	K-5	22070 H St.	Santa Margarita	93453	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 438-5633	267	11	23.8	38.2%	191 (71.5%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (16.9%)	6 (2.2%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (7.9%)	$9,075							68.5	75.6	1349	308
063078004787	1658	Sierra Elementary	Public	K-5	1100 Thompson Way	Placerville	95667	El Dorado County	Placerville Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 622-0814	404	17	24.4	40.6%	270 (66.8%)	3 (0.7%)	101 (25.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.2%)	$10,095							68.5	72.4	1483	175
061647010816	1659	Joseph M. Simas	Public	K-6	1875 Fitzgerald	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3790	508	23	22	57.5%	101 (19.9%)	29 (5.7%)	319 (62.8%)	29 (5.7%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.7%)	$10,653							68.5	70.4	1561	98
063684007927	1660	Wood Ranch Elementary	Public	K-6	455 Cir. Knoll Dr.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6370	512	20	25.6	29.5%	303 (59.2%)	9 (1.8%)	121 (23.6%)	48 (9.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (5.7%)	$5,845							68.5	76.7	1293	367

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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

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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