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)
062271003147	5231	Lorena Street Elementary	Public	K-5	1015 South Lorena St.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 268-1128	381	20	19	97.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,720							15.7	18.9	4964	267
061233001404	5232	Herman Leimbach Elementary	Public	K-6	8101 Grandstaff Dr.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 689-2120	630	29	21.7	69.0%	17 (2.7%)	118 (18.7%)	251 (39.8%)	178 (28.3%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (1.4%)	56 (8.9%)	$8,414							15.7	22.7	4596	636
062271003449	5233	West Athens Elementary	Public	K-5	1110 West 119th St.	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 756-9114	577	28	20.6	97.9%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,420							15.7	11	5653	420
061455001703	5234	Addams Elementary	Public	K-6	2117 West McKinley Ave.	Fresno	93728	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 457-2510	800	36	22.2	97.4%	59 (7.4%)	51 (6.4%)	599 (74.9%)	57 (7.1%)	12 (1.5%)	6 (0.8%)	15 (1.9%)	$7,825							15.7	13.1	5483	249
061437001651	5235	Lairon College Preparatory Academy	Public	4-8	3975 Mira Loma	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5775	315	15	20.4	45.1%	4 (1.3%)	7 (2.2%)	267 (84.8%)	37 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								15.6	12.5	5523	288
061437001646	5236	Captain Jason M. Dahl Elementary	Public	K-6	3200 Water St.	San Jose	95111	Santa Clara County	Franklin-McKinley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 363-5650	414	22	19.2	59.4%	8 (1.9%)	6 (1.4%)	305 (73.7%)	90 (21.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)								15.6	23.1	4547	689
060681000616	5237	W. D. Hall Elementary	Public	K-5	1376 Pepper Dr.	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 588-3136	540	23	23.4	81.3%	242 (44.8%)	34 (6.3%)	196 (36.3%)	31 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	32 (5.9%)	$10,991							15.6	16.5	5191	46
063531010991	5238	Manuel Esqueda Elementary	Public	K-8	2240 South Main St.	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 431-1500	892	42	21.2	80.3%	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	874 (98.0%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	$6,529							15.6	23.6	4503	735
062949004542	5239	H. A. Hyde Elementary	Public	K-5	125 Alta Vista St.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6243	455	25	17.9	91.2%	17 (3.7%)	2 (0.4%)	434 (95.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								15.6	9.5	5734	495
060001407287	5240	Shadow Ridge	Public, Alternative	K-12	15776 Main St.	Hesperia	92345	San Bernardino County	Hesperia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 949-8267	463	20	22.7	66.3%	50 (10.8%)	47 (10.2%)	351 (75.8%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.9%)	$8,758							15.6	13.6	5440	200

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.