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)
064125009461	851	Parkmead Elementary	Public	K-5	1920 Magnolia Way	Walnut Creek	94595	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 944-6858	415	18	23	11.8%	202 (48.7%)	16 (3.9%)	71 (17.1%)	68 (16.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	56 (13.5%)	$6,608							87.2	91.7	591	260
060229002633	852	Discovery Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1100 Camino Biscay	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Discovery Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 656-0797	982	40	24.5	33.5%	80 (8.1%)	31 (3.2%)	671 (68.3%)	138 (14.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	56 (5.7%)								87.2	87.4	850	2
062805004289	853	Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	225 11th St.	Oakland	94607	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-5133	705	27	26.6	77.2%	40 (5.7%)	66 (9.4%)	33 (4.7%)	511 (72.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (7.8%)	$5,946							87.2	82	1093	240
063509005935	854	Glenwood Elementary	Public	K-5	25 Castlewood Dr.	San Rafael	94901	Marin County	San Rafael City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 485-2430	307	14	21.9	20.2%	207 (67.4%)	3 (1.0%)	57 (18.6%)	9 (2.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.8%)	$8,025							87.2	85.6	930	76
062259008885	855	J. H. McGaugh Elementary	Public	K-5	1698 Bolsa Ave.	Seal Beach	90740	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4560	751	34	22	13.8%	376 (50.1%)	12 (1.6%)	184 (24.5%)	72 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	104 (13.8%)	$6,014							87.2	92.5	539	316
060885000897	856	Clay Elementary	Public	K-8	12449 South Smith Ave.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Clay Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-4185	241	9	26.7	19.9%	151 (62.7%)	2 (0.8%)	78 (32.4%)	5 (2.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.2%)	$10,295							87.1	85.6	931	75
064125006829	857	Murwood Elementary	Public	K-5	2050 Vanderslice Ave.	Walnut Creek	94596	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 943-2462	377	17	22.1	17.8%	202 (53.6%)	10 (2.7%)	65 (17.2%)	51 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	47 (12.5%)	$7,197							87.1	91	643	214
063442500611	858	Wilson Elementary	Public	K-5	8317 East Sheffield Rd.	San Gabriel	91775	Los Angeles County	San Gabriel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 287-0497	376	17	22.7	44.7%	13 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	88 (23.4%)	248 (66.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	24 (6.4%)	$8,328							87.1	80.4	1157	299
061026003192	859	El Marino Elementary	Public	K-5	11450 Port Rd.	Culver City	90230	Los Angeles County	Culver City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 842-4241	779	35	22.2	16.9%	129 (16.6%)	25 (3.2%)	279 (35.8%)	158 (20.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	188 (24.1%)	$545							87.1	90.9	646	213
062271003252	860	Open Charter Magnet	Public, Charter	K-5	5540 West 77th St.	Los Angeles	90045	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 568-0735	397	16	24.8	12.8%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,220							87.1	85.7	929	69

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.