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)
063153010006	651	Morning Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	10925 Morning Creek Dr. South	San Diego	92128	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-4334	584	27	21.9	17.0%	212 (36.3%)	14 (2.4%)	101 (17.3%)	177 (30.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	79 (13.5%)	$6,520							90.7	93.9	442	209
061749002190	652	Vieja Valley Elementary	Public	K-6	434 Nogal Dr.	Santa Barbara	93110	Santa Barbara County	Hope Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-1239	300	15	20	26.7%	158 (52.7%)	0 (0.0%)	118 (39.3%)	9 (3.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.3%)	$10,470							90.7	87.7	840	188
064128006836	653	Cyrus J. Morris Elementary	Public	K-5	19875 East Calle Baja	Walnut	91789	Los Angeles County	Walnut Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 594-0053	484	18	26.3	30.8%	7 (1.4%)	5 (1.0%)	138 (28.5%)	314 (64.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.9%)	$6,814							90.7	88.7	781	128
060001609678	654	Pepper Tree Elementary	Public	K-6	1045 West 18th St.	Upland	91784	San Bernardino County	Upland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 949-9635	778	30	26.2	36.5%	266 (34.2%)	20 (2.6%)	318 (40.9%)	122 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (6.7%)	$11,618							90.7	90.1	701	47
060221014050	655	Kinetic Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	721 Utica Ave.	Huntington Beach	92648	Orange County	Kinetic Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 465-4565	327	20	16.7	28.7%	196 (59.9%)	4 (1.2%)	72 (22.0%)	24 (7.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.2%)								90.7	81.9	1099	444
060606000541	656	Brisbane Elementary	Public	K-5	500 San Bruno Ave.	Brisbane	94005	San Mateo County	Brisbane Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 467-0120	205	13	15.6	15.6%	52 (25.4%)	2 (1.0%)	44 (21.5%)	71 (34.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (17.6%)	$11,802							90.7	84	1001	345
063386009186	657	Trabuco Mesa Elementary	Public	K-6	21301 Avenida de los Flores	Rancho Santa Margarita	92688	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 858-3339	654	28	23.1	31.8%	313 (47.9%)	7 (1.1%)	181 (27.7%)	83 (12.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (10.6%)	$4,897							90.6	93.2	492	165
060191508012	658	Odyssey Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	725 West Altadena Dr.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	Odyssey Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 229-0993	461	18	25.6	23.4%	209 (45.3%)	28 (6.1%)	131 (28.4%)	23 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (15.2%)								90.6	92.3	550	108
060002008445	659	Phoebe Apperson Hearst Elementary	Public	K-5	5301 Case Ave.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-3772	527	22	23.9	11.8%	129 (24.5%)	13 (2.5%)	69 (13.1%)	270 (51.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (8.3%)	$6,257							90.6	94	430	229
063099004311	660	Tierra Linda Elementary	Public	K-5	1201 Woodcreek Rd.	Camarillo	93012	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5360	561	25	22.4	26.6%	307 (54.7%)	5 (0.9%)	173 (30.8%)	29 (5.2%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.5%)	42 (7.5%)	$7,521							90.6	75.3	1360	700

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.