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)
062994008729	4751	Washington Elementary STEM Magnet	Public	K-5	1520 North Raymond Ave.	Pasadena	91103	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5840	406	21	19.6	82.8%	12 (3.0%)	36 (8.9%)	347 (85.5%)	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	$8,691							21.1	17.4	5121	370
062271012724	4752	Julie Korenstein Elementary	Public	K-5	7650 Ben Ave.	North Hollywood	91605	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 255-4140	322	15	21.4	96.6%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,758							21.1	26.2	4255	497
061839002263	4753	Beulah Payne P-8 STEAM Academy	Public	K-8	215 West 94th St.	Inglewood	90301	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5410	604	22	27.2	81.5%	0 (0.0%)	52 (8.6%)	520 (86.1%)	14 (2.3%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.8%)								21.1	16.1	5223	470
060681000609	4754	Crest Elementary	Public	K-8	2000 Suncrest Blvd.	El Cajon	92021	San Diego County	Cajon Valley Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 558-3128	259	10	25.9	42.9%	148 (57.1%)	5 (1.9%)	66 (25.5%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.2%)	3 (1.2%)	33 (12.7%)	$11,827							21.1	27.6	4121	633
063633006192	4755	Semitropic Elementary	Public	K-8	25300 Highway 46	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Semitropic Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 758-6412	151	10	14.9	62.9%	4 (2.6%)	4 (2.6%)	142 (94.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	$12,448							21.1	26.1	4264	491
063645006202	4756	Shandon Elementary	Public	K-8	301 South First St.	Shandon	93461	San Luis Obispo County	Shandon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 238-1782	175	10	17.9	76.6%	28 (16.0%)	3 (1.7%)	143 (81.7%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								21.1	20.8	4781	25
060813000784	4757	Caswell Elementary	Public	K-6	1800 North Central Ave.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1620	588	25	23.5	85.9%	16 (2.7%)	5 (0.9%)	557 (94.7%)	7 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$8,343							21.1	18.2	5023	266
062423003646	4758	Kern Avenue Elementary	Public	K-6	356 West Kern Ave.	Mc Farland	93250	Kern County	McFarland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 792-3033	711	30	23.7	90.3%	10 (1.4%)	2 (0.3%)	686 (96.5%)	8 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	$55,377							21.1	25.1	4357	401
063417005359	4759	Emmerton Elementary	Public	K-5	1888 Arden Ave.	San Bernardino	92404	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 388-6522	502	22	22.8	91.0%	15 (3.0%)	96 (19.1%)	360 (71.7%)	9 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	20 (4.0%)	$7,495							21.1	29	3986	773
063432005431	4760	Central Elementary	Public	K-5	3878 Orange Ave.	San Diego	92105	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-6100	533	25	20.9	94.2%	8 (1.5%)	43 (8.1%)	393 (73.7%)	80 (15.0%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	6 (1.1%)	$9,260							21.1	22.4	4625	135

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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

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.