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)
063023004720	2241	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-6	110 Ellis St.	Petaluma	94952	Sonoma County	Petaluma City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-4750	388	15	25.8	43.0%	164 (42.3%)	5 (1.3%)	171 (44.1%)	20 (5.2%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.4%)	$8,527							55.8	58.3	2123	118
060837000821	2242	Marigold Elementary	Public	K-5	2446 Marigold Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3121	568	22	26	47.5%	339 (59.7%)	16 (2.8%)	119 (21.0%)	24 (4.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (11.8%)	$10,947							55.8	59.7	2068	174
063877006521	2243	Truckee Elementary	Public	K-5	11911 Donner Pass Rd.	Truckee	96161	Nevada County	Tahoe-Truckee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 582-2650	451	22	20.8	51.7%	167 (37.0%)	2 (0.4%)	253 (56.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.0%)	$15,380							55.8	55.3	2265	22
060224910526	2244	Para Los Ninos Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	1617 East Seventh St.	Los Angeles	90021	Los Angeles County	Para Los Ninos Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 239-6605	274	13	20.7	86.5%	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.8%)	266 (97.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)								55.7	47	2695	451
061437008352	2245	Shirakawa (George Senior) Elementary	Public	K-8	665 Wool Creek Dr.	San Jose	95112	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 283-6086	633	31	20.3	49.3%	36 (5.7%)	13 (2.1%)	347 (54.8%)	206 (32.5%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (4.3%)								55.7	54.3	2314	69
064214006894	2246	Carlin C. Coppin Elementary	Public	K-5	150 East 12th St.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	Western Placer Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 645-6390	396	17	23.2	45.2%	202 (51.0%)	4 (1.0%)	152 (38.4%)	5 (1.3%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.3%)	28 (7.1%)	$10,987							55.7	61.4	1997	249
063729006310	2247	Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary	Public	K-5	8005 Winkle Ave.	Santa Cruz	95065	Santa Cruz County	Soquel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 464-5670	232	9	26.3	32.3%	119 (51.3%)	1 (0.4%)	92 (39.7%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.3%)	$11,732							55.7	61.9	1961	286
060001609090	2248	Foothill Knolls Academy of Innovation	Public	K-8	1245 Veterans Ct.	Upland	91786	San Bernardino County	Upland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 949-7740	568	22	25.5	68.7%	113 (19.9%)	33 (5.8%)	360 (63.4%)	26 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.0%)	$11,429							55.7	53.6	2364	116
061233010595	2249	Irene B. West Elementary	Public	K-6	8625 Serio Way	Elk Grove	95758	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 683-4362	928	37	25	52.3%	105 (11.3%)	118 (12.7%)	155 (16.7%)	455 (49.0%)	3 (0.3%)	25 (2.7%)	67 (7.2%)	$6,400							55.7	56.2	2227	22
060002710352	2250	Rice Canyon Elementary	Public	K-5	29535 Westwind Dr.	Lake Elsinore	92530	Riverside County	Lake Elsinore Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 471-2184	604	29	21.1	64.6%	162 (26.8%)	9 (1.5%)	391 (64.7%)	21 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	18 (3.0%)	$6,304							55.7	71.7	1505	745

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.