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)
061674002127	5411	Park Elementary	Public	K-6	411 Larchmont St.	Hayward	94540	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3875	494	24	20.1	80.4%	14 (2.8%)	31 (6.3%)	320 (64.8%)	77 (15.6%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.8%)	37 (7.5%)								13.7	17.2	5132	279
063705006292	5412	San Vicente Elementary	Public	K-6	1300 Metz Rd.	Soledad	93960	Monterey County	Soledad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 678-6420	532	23	23.1	86.7%	2 (0.4%)	5 (0.9%)	522 (98.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$6,308							13.7	12.1	5569	157
061191009131	5413	Columbia Elementary	Public	K-6	2640 East Avenue J-4	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Eastside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 946-5656	644	26	24.7	93.8%	36 (5.6%)	140 (21.7%)	439 (68.2%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (3.4%)								13.7	14.9	5337	76
063789006392	5414	Wingland Elementary	Public	K-5	701 Douglas St.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Standard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 392-2125	751	38	19.7	89.2%	367 (48.9%)	31 (4.1%)	310 (41.3%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.7%)	4 (0.5%)	33 (4.4%)	$6,829							13.7	17.6	5099	315
063522005965	5415	Smythe Elementary	Public	K-6	1880 Smythe Ave.	San Ysidro	92173	San Diego County	San Ysidro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 428-4447	578	26	22.2	67.1%	13 (2.2%)	2 (0.3%)	557 (96.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$6,933							13.7	16.8	5173	242
062460003694	5416	Margaret Sheehy Elementary	Public	K-6	1240 West Sixth St.	Merced	95340	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6676	533	22	24.1	95.3%	29 (5.4%)	18 (3.4%)	443 (83.1%)	21 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.1%)	$7,521							13.7	16.5	5197	219
060243000132	5417	Foothill Elementary	Public	K-5	8230 Wells Ave.	Riverside	92503	Riverside County	Alvord Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 358-1610	482	22	22.1	92.9%	18 (3.7%)	8 (1.7%)	439 (91.1%)	10 (2.1%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.6%)	$8,851							13.7	15.9	5239	178
062007002403	5418	Lower Lake Elementary	Public	K-7	9240 Lake St.	Lower Lake	95457	Lake County	Konocti Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 994-5787	752	29	25.8	77.9%	292 (38.8%)	12 (1.6%)	360 (47.9%)	2 (0.3%)	11 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (9.8%)								13.7	14.3	5376	42
064015006636	5419	Sycamore Magnet Academy	Public	K-8	1402 Sycamore Ave.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7360	1,211	49	24.8	84.4%	49 (4.0%)	13 (1.1%)	1,100 (90.8%)	29 (2.4%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	16 (1.3%)	$10,694							13.6	16.3	5214	205
063531005993	5420	Abraham Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	425 South Sullivan	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 972-6200	535	27	20.1	70.5%	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	511 (95.5%)	17 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	$7,005							13.6	15.1	5315	105

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.