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)
060148913185	1391	The Heights Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2710 Alpine Blvd. Ste. E	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	The Heights Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 792-9000	286	10	30	16.8%	227 (79.4%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.9%)								74.3	74.3	1410	19
062025002439	1392	Murray Manor Elementary	Public	K-6	8305 El Paso St.	La Mesa	91942	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5865	568	22	25.8	44.9%	240 (42.3%)	38 (6.7%)	193 (34.0%)	43 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (9.3%)	$5,646							74.3	75.9	1334	58
063942006557	1393	Edison Elementary	Public	K-5	3800 182Nd St.	Torrance	90504	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4513	492	19	26.5	49.0%	84 (17.1%)	31 (6.3%)	228 (46.3%)	99 (20.1%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	46 (9.3%)	$6,830							74.3	78.7	1216	177
061488001860	1394	John Marshall Elementary	Public	K-6	15791 Bushard St.	Westminster	92683	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6528	337	17	19.8	83.1%	18 (5.3%)	1 (0.3%)	156 (46.3%)	151 (44.8%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.7%)	$12,522							74.3	77.1	1274	120
063432005432	1395	Chesterton Elementary	Public	K-5	7335 Wheatley St.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-8070	403	17	23.7	58.3%	137 (34.0%)	24 (6.0%)	98 (24.3%)	87 (21.6%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	54 (13.4%)	$7,812							74.3	75.3	1362	33
063153004892	1396	Pomerado Elementary	Public	K-5	12321 Ninth St.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-1320	342	16	21.1	34.8%	123 (36.0%)	3 (0.9%)	117 (34.2%)	51 (14.9%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	44 (12.9%)	$10,574							74.3	68.5	1645	249
062871004464	1397	Joe Nightingale Elementary	Public	K-6	255 Winter Rd.	Santa Maria	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8650	684	25	27.3	52.9%	157 (23.0%)	7 (1.0%)	431 (63.0%)	20 (2.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	63 (9.2%)	$8,000							74.3	77.3	1263	134
064308007012	1398	Zamora Elementary	Public	K-6	1716 Cottonwood St.	Woodland	95695	Yolo County	Woodland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 666-3641	390	17	22.6	54.1%	146 (37.4%)	4 (1.0%)	203 (52.1%)	9 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	26 (6.7%)	$6,840							74.2	75.9	1336	62
063468007482	1399	Madison Elementary	Public	K-5	14751 Juniper St.	San Leandro	94579	Alameda County	San Leandro Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 895-7944	665	30	22.1	61.5%	32 (4.8%)	26 (3.9%)	156 (23.5%)	395 (59.4%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	53 (8.0%)	$5,378							74.2	69.9	1581	182
060220412549	1400	River Montessori Elementary Charter	Public, Charter	K-6	3880 Cypress Dr. Ste. B	Petaluma	94954	Sonoma County	River Montessori Elementary Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 778-6414	133	7	19.1	25.6%	73 (54.9%)	6 (4.5%)	27 (20.3%)	5 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (16.5%)								74.1	75.6	1346	54

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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