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)
060402000364	5501	Montara Elementary	Public	K-5	700 Montara Rd.	Barstow	92311	San Bernardino County	Barstow Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 252-5150	539	21	25.1	86.8%	56 (10.4%)	121 (22.4%)	297 (55.1%)	6 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	55 (10.2%)	$5,852							12.6	7.4	5814	313
064074006720	5502	Johnston Cooper Elementary	Public	K-5	612 Del Mar St.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8420	393	13	29.2	76.8%	20 (5.1%)	131 (33.3%)	172 (43.8%)	45 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	22 (5.6%)								12.6	15.6	5273	229
063255005009	5503	Bayview Elementary	Public	K-6	3001 16th St.	San Pablo	94806	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1401	325	15	21.6	92.3%	12 (3.7%)	74 (22.8%)	187 (57.5%)	37 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	12 (3.7%)	$5,869							12.6	11.8	5593	90
061692002158	5504	Whittier Elementary	Public	K-5	400 West Whittier Ave.	Hemet	92543	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-1650	886	37	23.9	91.6%	97 (10.9%)	98 (11.1%)	635 (71.7%)	5 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.6%)	43 (4.9%)	$7,595							12.6	11.9	5584	80
062955012316	5505	Cabot Yerxa Elementary	Public	K-5	67067 Desert View	Desert Hot Springs	92240	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 251-2223	666	32	20.7	97.0%	37 (5.6%)	54 (8.1%)	552 (82.9%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.7%)	$12,508							12.6	16.7	5180	325
061293001469	5506	Esparto Elementary	Public	K-5	17120 Omega St.	Esparto	95627	Yolo County	Esparto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 787-3417	452	20	22.6	78.5%	79 (17.5%)	16 (3.5%)	332 (73.5%)	7 (1.5%)	7 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.2%)	$5,942							12.6	13.7	5430	76
062513003743	5507	James Marshall Elementary	Public	K-6	515 Sutter Ave.	Modesto	95351	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-8162	633	31	20.4	94.0%	30 (4.7%)	4 (0.6%)	529 (83.6%)	28 (4.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	40 (6.3%)	$12,270							12.6	11.5	5609	102
063507005930	5508	San Pasqual Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	Rt. 1 676 Baseline Rd.	Winterhaven	92283	Imperial County	San Pasqual Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 572-0222	230	14	16.4	65.2%	5 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	107 (46.5%)	0 (0.0%)	112 (48.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.6%)	$10,249							12.6	9.7	5720	212
064140006845	5509	Karl F. Clemens Elementary	Public	K-5	523 Broadway Ave.	Wasco	93280	Kern County	Wasco Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 758-7120	546	26	20.8	95.4%	14 (2.6%)	2 (0.4%)	526 (96.3%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$7,696							12.6	14.7	5346	163
061389001583	5510	White Rock Elementary	Public	K-5	10487 White Rock Rd.	Rancho Cordova	95670	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9180	385	18	21.5	90.1%	71 (18.4%)	29 (7.5%)	203 (52.7%)	33 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.1%)	41 (10.6%)	$6,541							12.5	25.3	4337	1173

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.