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)
060207211593	3561	Alder Grove Charter School 2	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	714 F St.	Eureka	95501	Humboldt County	Alder Grove Charter School 2 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 268-0854	429	28	15.5	70.6%	284 (66.2%)	8 (1.9%)	59 (13.8%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (13.5%)								34.4	38.9	3216	345
061203009797	3562	Martin Luther King Junior Elementary	Public	K-6	1950 Villa Ave.	El Centro	92243	Imperial County	El Centro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 337-6555	433	17	25.4	84.5%	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	425 (98.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$8,002							34.4	31.9	3736	174
062271003291	3563	President Avenue Elementary	Public	K-6	1465 West 243rd St.	Harbor City	90710	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 326-7400	391	23	17	74.4%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,826							34.4	33.9	3586	23
062271012692	3564	Carlos Santana Arts Academy	Public	K-5	9301 Columbus Ave.	North Hills	91343	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 920-4060	389	18	21.6	95.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,275							34.4	29.2	3969	405
063531006006	3565	Santiago Elementary	Public	K-8	2212 North Baker St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 564-8400	944	41	23.2	57.5%	34 (3.6%)	7 (0.7%)	860 (91.1%)	20 (2.1%)	3 (0.3%)	11 (1.2%)	9 (1.0%)	$7,205							34.4	42.7	2967	598
062133002551	3566	Monterey Heights Elementary	Public	K-6	7550 Canton Dr.	Lemon Grove	91945	San Diego County	Lemon Grove	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 825-5633	400	20	20	55.0%	37 (9.3%)	45 (11.3%)	252 (63.0%)	26 (6.5%)	4 (1.0%)	11 (2.8%)	25 (6.3%)								34.3	42.3	2991	575
061518001916	3567	Rucker Elementary	Public	K-5	325 Santa Clara Ave.	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(669) 205-4800	538	23	23.3	59.9%	76 (14.1%)	2 (0.4%)	388 (72.1%)	24 (4.5%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	42 (7.8%)								34.3	28.8	3994	427
060962000986	3568	Martin Luther King Elementary	Public	K-6	2270 East 122nd St.	Compton	90222	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6430	326	13	25.1	73.6%	0 (0.0%)	67 (20.6%)	251 (77.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.8%)								34.3	36	3431	137
062847004401	3569	Kingsley Elementary	Public	K-6	5625 Kingsley St.	Montclair	91763	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 984-3634	525	24	21.8	90.9%	14 (2.7%)	9 (1.7%)	488 (93.0%)	4 (0.8%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	$8,049							34.3	34.2	3562	7
061668002101	3570	Zela Davis	Public	K-5	13435 South Yukon Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 679-1771	899	35	26	65.4%	12 (1.3%)	272 (30.3%)	554 (61.6%)	26 (2.9%)	2 (0.2%)	5 (0.6%)	28 (3.1%)	$6,752							34.3	36	3434	136

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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