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)
060144206694	5251	Upper Lake Elementary	Public	K-5	679 Second St.	Upper Lake	95485	Lake County	Upper Lake Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 275-2357	426	22	19.8	84.0%	200 (46.9%)	3 (0.7%)	137 (32.2%)	5 (1.2%)	42 (9.9%)	1 (0.2%)	38 (8.9%)	$7,329							15.5	18.7	4982	269
061288001454	5252	Felicita Elementary	Public	K-5	737 West 13th Ave.	Escondido	92025	San Diego County	Escondido Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 432-2444	450	26	17.3	89.1%	18 (4.0%)	1 (0.2%)	417 (92.7%)	7 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.6%)	$6,567							15.5	12.2	5549	297
062271003084	5253	Hillcrest Drive Elementary	Public	K-5	4041 Hillcrest Dr.	Los Angeles	90008	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 296-6867	532	27	19.7	95.5%	7 (1.3%)	231 (43.4%)	264 (49.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.5%)	$12,740							15.5	7.6	5808	555
061111009785	5254	James Madison Elementary	Public	K-5	80-845 Avenue 46	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3850	376	16	23.5	91.0%	9 (2.4%)	5 (1.3%)	323 (85.9%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (9.3%)	$8,515							15.5	13	5494	240
060402000360	5255	Henderson Elementary	Public	K-5	400 South Avenue E	Barstow	92311	San Bernardino County	Barstow Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 255-6250	506	20	25.1	75.5%	71 (14.0%)	111 (21.9%)	281 (55.5%)	7 (1.4%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	31 (6.1%)	$5,146							15.5	14.1	5395	140
063867006502	5256	Sylvan Elementary	Public	K-5	2908 Coffee Rd.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Sylvan Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-5600	320	17	19.3	76.6%	69 (21.6%)	12 (3.8%)	173 (54.1%)	37 (11.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.1%)								15.4	25.2	4354	902
061944002333	5257	Antelope Elementary	Public	K-8	37237 North 100th St. East	Littlerock	93543	Los Angeles County	Keppel Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 944-2148	272	11	24.7	66.5%	12 (4.4%)	6 (2.2%)	248 (91.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)								15.4	12.7	5514	257
063018003601	5258	Palms Elementary	Public	K-6	255 East Jarvis	Perris	92571	Riverside County	Perris Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 940-5112	681	27	25.2	85.2%	21 (3.1%)	74 (10.9%)	558 (81.9%)	6 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.1%)	$8,207							15.4	21.7	4694	564
062271003281	5259	Plainview Academic Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	10819 Plainview Ave.	Tujunga	91042	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 353-1730	285	13	21.9	87.7%	43 (15.1%)	3 (1.1%)	221 (77.5%)	7 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.9%)	$13,428							15.4	17	5152	107
063462005826	5260	Whitney Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	4248 Whitney Ave.	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 575-2407	401	15	26.7	85.5%	111 (27.7%)	72 (18.0%)	87 (21.7%)	93 (23.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	33 (8.2%)	$8,350							15.4	13.9	5407	147

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.