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)
063459005737	1131	Schallenberger Elementary	Public	K-5	1280 Koch Ln.	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6253	477	23	20.9	20.5%	215 (45.1%)	3 (0.6%)	156 (32.7%)	44 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (12.4%)	$11,008							80.5	70.5	1554	423
063442500585	1132	Washington Elementary	Public	K-5	300 North San Marino Ave.	San Gabriel	91775	Los Angeles County	San Gabriel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 282-3926	483	19	25.7	61.1%	21 (4.3%)	2 (0.4%)	190 (39.3%)	241 (49.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.6%)	$6,241							80.5	80.6	1146	14
061111010274	1133	Gerald R. Ford Elementary	Public	K-5	44-210 Warner Trail	Indian Wells	92210	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 772-4120	603	27	22.2	58.7%	196 (32.5%)	7 (1.2%)	310 (51.4%)	47 (7.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (6.6%)	$7,259							80.5	74.9	1377	244
061941002330	1134	Kenwood Elementary	Public	K-6	230 Randolph Ave.	Kenwood	95452	Sonoma County	Kenwood	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 833-2500	113	7	17.2	23.9%	74 (65.5%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (20.4%)	3 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (11.5%)	$19,330							80.4	83.8	1009	125
060627009326	1135	Blue Oak Elementary	Public	K-5	2391 Merrychase Dr.	Cameron Park	95682	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 676-0164	485	18	26.9	22.5%	331 (68.2%)	2 (0.4%)	103 (21.2%)	21 (4.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.4%)	$10,241							80.4	86.6	885	250
063386007200	1136	Melinda Heights Elementary	Public	K-6	21001 Rancho Trabuco	Rancho Santa Margarita	92688	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 888-7311	959	38	25.5	24.8%	482 (50.3%)	7 (0.7%)	241 (25.1%)	118 (12.3%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	106 (11.1%)	$5,131							80.3	84.4	982	154
063480005871	1137	Hawthorne Elementary	Public	K-6	2125 Story St.	San Luis Obispo	93401	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4070	430	18	24.5	48.6%	203 (47.2%)	1 (0.2%)	173 (40.2%)	12 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	38 (8.8%)	$13,176							80.3	69.5	1600	463
061488001851	1138	Merton E. Hill Elementary	Public	K-6	9681 11th St.	Garden Grove	92844	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6561	273	12	23.6	84.6%	13 (4.8%)	6 (2.2%)	94 (34.4%)	151 (55.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (2.9%)	$12,803							80.3	71.6	1509	371
062256002772	1139	Loomis Elementary	Public	K-8	3505 Taylor Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1824	445	22	19.9	27.2%	321 (72.1%)	3 (0.7%)	57 (12.8%)	23 (5.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (9.0%)	$6,250							80.3	81.3	1123	16
062553003830	1140	La Mesa	Public	K-8	1 La Mesa Way	Monterey	93940	Monterey County	Monterey Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 649-1872	564	27	21	28.0%	277 (49.1%)	18 (3.2%)	165 (29.3%)	63 (11.2%)	4 (0.7%)	6 (1.1%)	30 (5.3%)	$5,700							80.2	73.8	1435	295

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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