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)
063492005897	711	Audubon Elementary	Public	K-5	841 Gull Ave.	Foster City	94404	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7500	531	22	23.7	9.0%	89 (16.8%)	4 (0.8%)	80 (15.1%)	277 (52.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	75 (14.1%)	$6,917							89.8	89.2	761	50
063570007360	712	Santa Monica Alternative (K-8)	Public	K-8	2525 Fifth St.	Santa Monica	90405	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 396-2640	247	15	16.5	15.4%	128 (51.8%)	14 (5.7%)	59 (23.9%)	17 (6.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (10.9%)	$7,658							89.8	91.7	590	122
062805004307	713	Peralta Elementary	Public	K-5	460 63rd St.	Oakland	94609	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3145	352	14	25.1	29.0%	140 (39.8%)	39 (11.1%)	46 (13.1%)	26 (7.4%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (27.8%)	$5,702							89.8	83.5	1022	309
062271003174	714	Mayall Street Elementary	Public	K-5	16701 Mayall St.	North Hills	91343	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 363-5058	452	22	20.5	68.4%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,176							89.7	90	714
061803007190	715	John R. Peterson Elementary	Public	K-5	20661 Farnsworth Ln.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Huntington Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-1515	489	23	21.2	42.7%	221 (45.2%)	1 (0.2%)	144 (29.4%)	43 (8.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (16.0%)	$5,920							89.7	89.3	756	41
060162000008	716	Carver (Charles J.) Elementary	Public	K-6	19200 East Ely St.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7840	529	22	23.9	53.9%	22 (4.2%)	62 (11.7%)	225 (42.5%)	185 (35.0%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	31 (5.9%)	$5,835							89.7	90.3	692	24
062250002762	717	Tincher Preparatory	Public	K-8	1701 Petaluma Ave.	Long Beach	90815	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 493-2636	813	33	24.2	32.3%	227 (27.9%)	78 (9.6%)	322 (39.6%)	102 (12.5%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.9%)	75 (9.2%)	$8,965							89.7	87.5	846	129
062637003935	718	Bancroft Elementary	Public	K-5	2200 Parish Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 933-3405	675	25	27	11.0%	198 (29.3%)	4 (0.6%)	180 (26.7%)	97 (14.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	192 (28.4%)	$10,843							89.7	79.2	1193	475
060744009118	719	Marian Bergeson Elementary	Public	K-5	25302 Rancho Niguel Rd.	Laguna Niguel	92677	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 643-1540	506	21	24	32.8%	120 (23.7%)	10 (2.0%)	99 (19.6%)	144 (28.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	131 (25.9%)	$9,669							89.7	95.9	282	437
061296009365	720	Caryn Elementary	Public	K-5	6290 Sierra Crest View Loop	Alta Loma	91737	San Bernardino County	Etiwanda Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 941-9551	544	24	23	39.2%	134 (24.6%)	17 (3.1%)	218 (40.1%)	125 (23.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (9.0%)	$5,256							89.6	91.6	600	120

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.