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)
063432003954	721	Nye Elementary	Public	K-5	981 Valencia Pkwy.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 430-1200	375	16	23.4	72.5%	14 (3.7%)	81 (21.6%)	112 (29.9%)	123 (32.8%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	40 (10.7%)	$8,143							89.6	86.2	906	185
061185001319	722	Murphy Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	16021 Janine Dr.	Whittier	90603	Los Angeles County	East Whittier City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 789-2150	491	19	25.8	31.0%	64 (13.0%)	3 (0.6%)	352 (71.7%)	28 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (9.0%)								89.5	93.8	450	272
063153004896	723	Sunset Hills Elementary	Public	K-5	9291 Oviedo St.	San Diego	92129	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 484-1600	372	15	24.4	7.5%	165 (44.4%)	2 (0.5%)	63 (16.9%)	95 (25.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (12.1%)	$7,992							89.5	92.6	526	197
061389001572	724	Theodore Judah Elementary	Public	K-5	101 Dean Way	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9175	626	28	22.6	30.2%	164 (26.2%)	14 (2.2%)	112 (17.9%)	262 (41.9%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	70 (11.2%)	$5,641							89.5	91.3	617	107
061275001433	725	Capri Elementary	Public	K-6	941 Capri Rd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	Encinitas Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 944-4360	613	28	22.2	24.1%	331 (54.0%)	1 (0.2%)	211 (34.4%)	14 (2.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (8.8%)	$13,018							89.5	91	641	84
060744006094	726	Oak Grove Elementary	Public	K-5	22705 Sanborn	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 360-9001	584	25	23.3	32.7%	291 (49.8%)	5 (0.9%)	96 (16.4%)	95 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	97 (16.6%)	$8,951							89.4	93.8	451	275
061233011231	727	Edna Batey Elementary	Public	K-6	9421 Stonebrook Dr.	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 714-5520	834	34	24.5	31.8%	149 (17.9%)	50 (6.0%)	147 (17.6%)	400 (48.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.6%)	83 (10.0%)	$7,297							89.4	87.3	858	131
062025002432	728	La Mesa Arts Academy	Public	4-8	4200 Parks Ave.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5730	1,057	48	22.1	37.2%	455 (43.0%)	47 (4.4%)	383 (36.2%)	47 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	116 (11.0%)	$6,138							89.4	88.5	796	68
061488001841	729	Excelsior Elementary	Public	K-6	10421 Woodbury Rd.	Garden Grove	92843	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6106	438	19	23	84.9%	5 (1.1%)	2 (0.5%)	151 (34.5%)	271 (61.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	$12,034							89.4	86.4	892	163
063423005397	730	John Muir Elementary	Public	K-5	130 Cambridge Ln.	San Bruno	94066	San Mateo County	San Bruno Park Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 624-3160	427	15	28.9	26.2%	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	121 (28.3%)	146 (34.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	151 (35.4%)	$6,131							89.3	88.3	806	76

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.