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)
064125006827	641	Buena Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	2355 San Juan Ave.	Walnut Creek	94597	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 944-6822	494	21	23.5	18.8%	200 (40.5%)	15 (3.0%)	77 (15.6%)	119 (24.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (16.6%)	$6,734							90.9	95.5	319	322
063432005559	642	Tierrasanta Elementary	Public	K-5	5450 La Cuenta Dr.	San Diego	92124	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 496-8255	498	22	22.6	28.3%	212 (42.6%)	14 (2.8%)	173 (34.7%)	29 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (14.1%)								90.9	86.5	890	248
062250002706	643	Carver Elementary	Public	K-5	5335 East Pavo St.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 420-2697	520	19	28.1	23.8%	177 (34.0%)	34 (6.5%)	164 (31.5%)	74 (14.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	69 (13.3%)	$8,594							90.9	89.8	722	79
060747000706	644	Ada W. Harris Elementary	Public	3-6	1508 Windsor Rd.	Cardiff by the Sea	92007	San Diego County	Cardiff Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 632-5894	382	18	21.8	14.7%	251 (65.7%)	2 (0.5%)	62 (16.2%)	9 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (14.9%)								90.8	91.3	619	25
060480000463	645	Northwood Elementary	Public	K-5	2760 East Trimble Rd.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1940	454	18	25.2	13.2%	25 (5.5%)	5 (1.1%)	40 (8.8%)	366 (80.6%)	4 (0.9%)	3 (0.7%)	11 (2.4%)	$11,536							90.8	93.9	449	196
060003204961	646	Washington Elementary	Public	K-5	1100 Lilienthal Ln.	Redondo Beach	90278	Los Angeles County	Redondo Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 798-8641	786	30	25.9	15.3%	243 (30.9%)	24 (3.1%)	287 (36.5%)	128 (16.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	101 (12.8%)	$10,098							90.8	88.7	785	139
060750009120	647	Hope Elementary	Public	K-5	3010 Tamarack Ave.	Carlsbad	92010	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5900	657	27	24.1	16.1%	364 (55.4%)	3 (0.5%)	162 (24.7%)	33 (5.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	93 (14.2%)	$7,542							90.8	89.7	731	84
063432009437	648	Mt. Everest Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	4350 Mt. Everest Blvd.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(619) 605-8700	205	12	17.1	22.4%	110 (53.7%)	3 (1.5%)	33 (16.1%)	30 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	26 (12.7%)	$9,276							90.8	93.3	479	169
068450014380	649	Loma Ridge Elementary	Public	K-6	500 Tomato Springs	Irvine	92618	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 404-1400	755	27	27.4	12.8%	99 (13.1%)	5 (0.7%)	52 (6.9%)	519 (68.7%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	76 (10.1%)								90.8	92.5	540	109
061122001244	650	Lucas Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	1175 Idylberry Dr.	San Rafael	94903	Marin County	Miller Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 492-3730	364	15	24.2	6.6%	261 (71.7%)	3 (0.8%)	28 (7.7%)	36 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (9.9%)	$9,177							90.7	93.3	482	168

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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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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