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)
061970002370	1971	Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	374 East North Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7240	299	13	23	95.0%	3 (1.0%)	2 (0.7%)	289 (96.7%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	$7,652							62.1	54.6	2301	330
063732006312	1972	Soulsbyville Elementary	Public	K-8	20300 Soulsbyville Rd.	Soulsbyville	95372	Tuolumne County	Soulsbyville Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 532-1419	484	23	20.7	44.0%	374 (77.3%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (14.3%)	3 (0.6%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (7.0%)	$8,702							62.1	58.8	2105	133
063900004016	1973	Vineyard Elementary	Public	3-5	2121 Vineyard Dr.	Templeton	93465	San Luis Obispo County	Templeton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 434-5840	419	17	24.6	22.9%	266 (63.5%)	2 (0.5%)	93 (22.2%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (12.6%)	$7,989							62.1	63.4	1870	103
062622010302	1974	Ranch View Elementary	Public	K-6	3300 Old Archibald Rd.	Ontario	91761	San Bernardino County	Mountain View Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 947-5545	590	25	23.6	55.3%	54 (9.2%)	57 (9.7%)	392 (66.4%)	63 (10.7%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.8%)	18 (3.1%)	$6,802							62.1	65.5	1781	193
061455001769	1975	Sunset Elementary	Public	K-6	1755 South Crystal Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-3310	402	20	20.2	75.9%	15 (3.7%)	25 (6.2%)	356 (88.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$8,802							62	56.6	2206	231
062745009595	1976	Olive Drive Elementary	Public	K-6	7800 Darrin Ave.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Norris Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 387-7040	763	32	23.8	31.7%	380 (49.8%)	14 (1.8%)	286 (37.5%)	41 (5.4%)	9 (1.2%)	3 (0.4%)	30 (3.9%)	$5,192							62	58.3	2122	146
060750000710	1977	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-5	3743 Jefferson St.	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5500	462	22	20.6	48.3%	178 (38.5%)	3 (0.6%)	248 (53.7%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.8%)	$8,656							62	59.3	2087	110
062547003802	1978	Montebello Gardens Elementary	Public	K-5	4700 Pine St.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 463-5191	233	12	19.5	82.8%	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	218 (93.6%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.3%)	$7,514							62	72.6	1477	501
062271003343	1979	Serrania Avenue Charter For Enriched Studies	Public, Charter	K-5	5014 Serrania Ave.	Woodland Hills	91364	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 340-6700	549	23	23.8	45.4%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,479							62	71.5	1513	466
063462005766	1980	James R. Cowan Fundamental Elementary	Public	K-6	3350 Becerra Way	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 979-8240	387	15	25.8	43.2%	216 (55.8%)	37 (9.6%)	74 (19.1%)	26 (6.7%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	28 (7.2%)	$5,681							61.9	63	1897	83

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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