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)
063153004891	551	Painted Rock Elementary	Public	K-5	16711 Martincoit Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-1180	593	27	22.3	7.4%	389 (65.6%)	4 (0.7%)	87 (14.7%)	49 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	61 (10.3%)	$7,083							92.3	95.8	288	263
062271002946	552	Dahlia Heights Elementary	Public	K-6	5063 Floristan Ave.	Los Angeles	90041	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 255-1419	376	16	23.5	19.9%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,831							92.3	92.8	518	34
062271003203	553	Mt. Washington Elementary	Public	K-6	3981 San Rafael Ave.	Los Angeles	90065	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 225-8320	431	17	25.3	13.2%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,741							92.3	93.7	458	95
060780009342	554	Independent Elementary	Public	K-5	21201 Independent School Rd.	Castro Valley	94552	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-9558	634	27	23.4	27.1%	99 (15.6%)	25 (3.9%)	112 (17.7%)	305 (48.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	91 (14.4%)	$5,083							92.2	89	766	212
068450010267	555	Westpark Elementary	Public	K-6	25 San Carlo	Irvine	92614	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6400	825	30	27.7	25.2%	194 (23.5%)	23 (2.8%)	120 (14.5%)	395 (47.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	91 (11.0%)	$5,181							92.2	91.2	625	70
060150313795	556	Elevate	Public, Charter	K-8	2285 Murray Ridge Rd.	San Diego	92123	San Diego County	Elevate District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 751-4774	461	22	21	34.1%	155 (33.6%)	70 (15.2%)	111 (24.1%)	41 (8.9%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	81 (17.6%)								92.2	95.2	345	211
062271003451	557	West Hollywood Elementary	Public	K-5	970 North Hammond St.	West Hollywood	90069	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 274-5313	307	12	25.5	30.0%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,066							92.2	93.2	493	64
062724004123	558	Newport Elementary	Public	K-6	1327 West Balboa Blvd.	Newport Beach	92661	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6965	313	17	18.9	26.2%	218 (69.6%)	1 (0.3%)	51 (16.3%)	8 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	34 (10.9%)								92.2	90.5	675	117
062577003854	559	Easterbrook Discovery	Public	K-8	4835 Doyle Rd.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Moreland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 874-3500	954	44	21.8	21.2%	184 (19.3%)	19 (2.0%)	188 (19.7%)	480 (50.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	76 (8.0%)	$5,817							92.2	91.9	575	16
062271011654	560	Hesby Oaks Leadership Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	15530 Hesby St.	Encino	91436	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 528-7000	501	21	23.8	14.8%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,860							92.1	92.9	516	44

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.