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)
069113410218	5401	Tranquillity Elementary	Public	K-8	6116 South Daniels	Tranquillity	93668	Fresno County	Golden Plains Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 698-5517	199	12	17.3	96.0%	3 (1.5%)	1 (0.5%)	195 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$5,667							13.8	10.7	5673	272
060907011176	5402	Las Palmitas Elementary	Public	K-6	86150 Avenue 66	Thermal	92274	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 397-2200	582	27	21.3	96.2%	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	567 (97.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	$13,581							13.8	10.6	5678	276
063738006317	5403	Central Elementary	Public	K-6	1290 Ebony Ave.	Imperial Beach	91932	San Diego County	South Bay Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 628-5000	379	16	23.6	64.1%	20 (5.3%)	13 (3.4%)	317 (83.6%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	23 (6.1%)	$6,301							13.8	13.8	5423	20
063384005269	5404	Nicholas Elementary	Public	K-6	5100 El Paraiso Ave.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4655	474	23	20.6	89.5%	21 (4.4%)	60 (12.7%)	222 (46.8%)	120 (25.3%)	2 (0.4%)	23 (4.9%)	26 (5.5%)	$6,316							13.7	14.4	5373	31
063581006117	5405	Brook Hill Elementary	Public	K-6	1850 Vallejo St.	Santa Rosa	95404	Sonoma County	Santa Rosa Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 890-3915	281	17	16.5	85.8%	27 (9.6%)	3 (1.1%)	230 (81.9%)	7 (2.5%)	6 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.8%)	$11,442							13.7	16.3	5211	194
062271008157	5406	Ninth Street Elementary	Public	K-5	835 St.anford Ave.	Los Angeles	90021	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 896-2700	276	13	21.2	96.7%	10 (3.6%)	22 (8.0%)	219 (79.3%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.0%)	$12,322							13.7	15.6	5263	143
060570000517	5407	Borrego Springs Elementary	Public	K-5	1315 Palm Canyon Dr.	Borrego Springs	92004	San Diego County	Borrego Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 767-5333	150	6	27.2	81.3%	13 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	130 (86.7%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.0%)	$10,665							13.7	11.1	5644	237
063432005451	5408	Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary	Public	K-6	3510 Newton Ave.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-6200	419	20	20.9	95.7%	3 (0.7%)	13 (3.1%)	396 (94.5%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	$10,004							13.7	24.7	4387	1021
063801011781	5409	Wilhelmina Henry Elementary	Public	K-8	1107 South Wagner Ave.	Stockton	95215	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7490	908	35	25.8	80.4%	22 (2.4%)	11 (1.2%)	838 (92.3%)	20 (2.2%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (1.4%)	$7,257							13.7	11	5656	247
062619003920	5410	Willard F. Payne Elementary	Public	K-6	2850 Mountain View Rd.	El Monte	91732	Los Angeles County	Mountain View Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 652-4900	518	26	19.6	72.6%	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	495 (95.6%)	21 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								13.7	13.5	5451	41

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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

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