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)
063488011771	571	San Elijo Elementary	Public	K-5	1615 Schoolhouse Way	San Marcos	92078	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2600	858	36	24.1	13.5%	532 (62.0%)	0 (0.0%)	166 (19.3%)	78 (9.1%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (8.2%)	$7,420							92	89.5	737	166
062577003853	572	Country Lane Elementary	Public	K-5	5140 Country Ln.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Moreland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 874-3400	452	22	20.5	22.8%	88 (19.5%)	17 (3.8%)	76 (16.8%)	220 (48.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	48 (10.6%)	$5,757							92	95.2	337	235
060744014361	573	Esencia	Public	K-5	5 Aprender St.	Rancho Mission Viejo	92694	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-9200	873	36	24.5	17.3%	503 (57.6%)	6 (0.7%)	121 (13.9%)	100 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	141 (16.2%)								92	92.8	517	56
062628003926	574	Edith Landels Elementary	Public	K-5	115 West Dana St.	Mountain View	94041	Santa Clara County	Mountain View Whisman	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 526-3520	374	18	20.7	22.7%	89 (23.8%)	4 (1.1%)	118 (31.6%)	119 (31.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	41 (11.0%)								92	84.1	996	422
060588000533	575	Falcon Academy of Science and Technology	Public	K-6	650 North Apricot Ave.	Brea	92821	Orange County	Brea-Olinda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 529-3908	527	22	23.9	19.5%	105 (19.9%)	9 (1.7%)	201 (38.1%)	155 (29.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	55 (10.4%)	$5,016							92	90.1	700	125
063513005956	576	Rancho Romero Elementary	Public	K-5	180 Hemme Ave.	Alamo	94507	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 855-5700	442	19	22.8	4.3%	306 (69.2%)	1 (0.2%)	39 (8.8%)	62 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	31 (7.0%)	$7,431							92	94.6	382	194
062724004116	577	Heinz Kaiser Elementary	Public	3-6	2130 Santa Ana Ave.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6950	553	23	23.6	36.3%	320 (57.9%)	1 (0.2%)	157 (28.4%)	17 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (10.3%)								91.9	90.6	667	90
061044009129	578	Juliet Morris Elementary	Public	K-6	9952 Graham St.	Cypress	90630	Orange County	Cypress Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-6995	590	22	26.8	37.6%	119 (20.2%)	9 (1.5%)	162 (27.5%)	249 (42.2%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	45 (7.6%)	$737							91.9	91.5	603	25
061749002189	579	Monte Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	730 North Hope Ave.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Hope Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 687-5333	270	14	19.2	24.1%	160 (59.3%)	2 (0.7%)	85 (31.5%)	9 (3.3%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.4%)	$10,470							91.9	86.2	907	328
061938002327	580	Anthony G. Bacich Elementary	Public	K-4	699 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.	Kentfield	94904	Marin County	Kentfield Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 925-2220	541	28	19.1	13.3%	345 (63.8%)	5 (0.9%)	99 (18.3%)	17 (3.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	72 (13.3%)	$11,150							91.9	91.1	632	52

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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.