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)
061350001541	1481	La Paloma Elementary	Public	K-6	300 Heald Ln.	Fallbrook	92028	San Diego County	Fallbrook Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 731-4220	524	24	21.9	78.8%	117 (22.3%)	4 (0.8%)	371 (70.8%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.3%)	18 (3.4%)	$6,711							72.3	61.4	1996	515
060177000003	1482	William G. Paden Elementary	Public	K-5	444 Central Ave.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4014	377	15	25.1	46.7%	111 (29.4%)	31 (8.2%)	73 (19.4%)	97 (25.7%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	61 (16.2%)	$16,270							72.3	66.2	1747	265
062454013172	1483	Herk Bouris Elementary	Public	K-5	34257 Kalanchoe Rd.	Lake Elsinore	92532	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 244-7657	796	34	23.7	62.7%	209 (26.3%)	44 (5.5%)	424 (53.3%)	32 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	86 (10.8%)	$9,527							72.2	74.5	1400	83
062211002627	1484	Jackson Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	554 Jackson Ave.	Livermore	94550	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4717	517	22	23.6	27.1%	224 (43.3%)	13 (2.5%)	164 (31.7%)	79 (15.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (7.2%)	$8,001							72.2	85.1	949	535
061970012257	1485	Silas Bartsch	Public	K-8	2225 East North Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7280	620	27	22.7	89.7%	32 (5.2%)	1 (0.2%)	571 (92.1%)	9 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	$6,463							72.2	65.4	1790	305
061288011130	1486	Reidy Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	2869 North Broadway	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 739-5800	593	35	17.1	48.9%	178 (30.0%)	6 (1.0%)	313 (52.8%)	40 (6.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (9.3%)	$7,562							72.2	62.8	1910	424
063972006602	1487	Trinidad Union	Public	K-8	300 Trinity St.	Trinidad	95570	Humboldt County	Trinidad Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 677-3631	168	9	18.6	62.5%	110 (65.5%)	2 (1.2%)	24 (14.3%)	1 (0.6%)	11 (6.5%)	1 (0.6%)	19 (11.3%)								72.2	62.6	1918	431
060774000738	1488	Castaic Elementary	Public	K-6	30455 Park Vista Dr.	Castaic	91384	Los Angeles County	Castaic Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 257-4530	414	15	27.6	41.5%	196 (47.3%)	4 (1.0%)	151 (36.5%)	40 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (5.1%)	$5,396							72.1	75.6	1347	141
063090004791	1489	Pleasant Grove	Public	K-8	3075 Howsley Rd.	Pleasant Grove	95668	Sutter County	Pleasant Grove Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 655-3235	157	8	19.6	40.8%	100 (63.7%)	3 (1.9%)	37 (23.6%)	3 (1.9%)	3 (1.9%)	2 (1.3%)	9 (5.7%)	$9,867							72.1	53.5	2370	881
060002909509	1490	Alta Murrieta Elementary	Public	K-5	39475 Whitewood Rd.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1403	903	36	25.2	57.7%	272 (30.1%)	40 (4.4%)	419 (46.4%)	76 (8.4%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	93 (10.3%)								72.1	67.3	1701	211

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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.