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)
063588006144	1061	Rio Seco Elementary	Public	K-8	9545 Cuyamaca St.	Santee	92071	San Diego County	Santee	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 956-5500	933	39	23.8	32.0%	499 (53.5%)	6 (0.6%)	245 (26.3%)	52 (5.6%)	2 (0.2%)	4 (0.4%)	125 (13.4%)	$9,344							82.2	85.9	917	144
062271003312	1062	Rockdale Visual & Performing Arts Magnet	Public	K-6	1303 Yosemite Dr.	Los Angeles	90041	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 255-6793	298	14	21.2	44.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,356							82.1	73.6	1440	378
063231004984	1063	Rescue Elementary	Public	K-5	3880 Green Valley Rd.	Rescue	95672	El Dorado County	Rescue Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 677-2720	497	21	23.6	21.3%	409 (82.3%)	6 (1.2%)	62 (12.5%)	13 (2.6%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	$9,596							82.1	87.9	825	238
060964001014	1064	Ladera STARS Academy	Public	K-5	1211 Calle Almendro	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 492-3565	303	16	18.9	34.3%	140 (46.2%)	13 (4.3%)	118 (38.9%)	15 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.6%)	$7,550							82.1	83	1057	7
063153004889	1065	Midland Elementary	Public	K-5	13910 Midland Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-0047	612	26	23.8	29.2%	274 (44.8%)	8 (1.3%)	201 (32.8%)	57 (9.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (11.6%)	$7,228							82.1	84.9	955	110
061440001662	1066	J. Haley Durham Elementary	Public	K-5	40292 Leslie St.	Fremont	94538	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 657-7080	672	26	25.8	25.0%	40 (6.0%)	20 (3.0%)	114 (17.0%)	456 (67.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	37 (5.5%)	$7,158							82.1	92.4	545	521
063459005734	1067	Reed Elementary	Public	K-5	1524 Jacob Ave.	San Jose	95118	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6247	348	14	24.5	20.7%	137 (39.4%)	4 (1.1%)	101 (29.0%)	63 (18.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (12.4%)	$10,416							82.1	88.1	816	251
061440001676	1068	Steven Millard Elementary	Public	K-5	5200 Valpey Park Dr.	Fremont	94538	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 657-0344	495	21	23.5	21.8%	29 (5.9%)	7 (1.4%)	94 (19.0%)	341 (68.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	21 (4.2%)	$8,262							82	86.3	898	170
060330000252	1069	Monterey Road Elementary	Public	K-5	3355 Monterey Rd.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 462-4270	385	15	26.4	37.7%	244 (63.4%)	1 (0.3%)	84 (21.8%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	48 (12.5%)	$10,116							82	80.4	1155	86
062121002543	1070	Mark Twain Elementary	Public	K-5	3728 West 154th St.	Lawndale	90260	Los Angeles County	Lawndale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 675-9134	595	25	24.2	61.0%	46 (7.7%)	36 (6.1%)	423 (71.1%)	45 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	43 (7.2%)	$7,813							82	76.8	1286	216

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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