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)
063315005133	1881	Castle View Elementary	Public	K-6	6201 Shaker Dr.	Riverside	92506	Riverside County	Riverside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 788-7460	668	30	22.2	30.5%	122 (18.3%)	33 (4.9%)	463 (69.3%)	18 (2.7%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	27 (4.0%)	$8,028							63.9	56.5	2211	330
063822010536	1882	Fair Oaks Ranch Community	Public	K-6	26933 North Silverbell Ln.	Santa Clarita	91387	Los Angeles County	Sulphur Springs Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 299-1790	861	31	27.7	39.8%	168 (19.5%)	66 (7.7%)	408 (47.4%)	151 (17.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (7.5%)	$5,755							63.9	64.9	1807	75
060201110711	1883	University Preparation Charter School at CSU Channel Islands	Public, Charter	K-8	1099 Bedford Dr.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	UNIV Preparation Charter School @ CSU Channel Islands Distr	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 482-4608	737	38	19.1	46.1%	114 (15.5%)	11 (1.5%)	558 (75.7%)	27 (3.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.1%)								63.8	58.3	2121	238
060245210389	1884	Aspire River Oaks Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	1801 Pyrenees Ave.	Stockton	95210	San Joaquin County	Aspire River Oaks Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 956-8100	451	17	26.1	77.4%	23 (5.1%)	29 (6.4%)	175 (38.8%)	163 (36.1%)	2 (0.4%)	10 (2.2%)	49 (10.9%)								63.8	55.7	2247	363
061233010293	1885	John Ehrhardt Elementary	Public	K-6	8900 Old Creek Dr.	Elk Grove	95758	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-7259	809	34	23.7	60.4%	137 (16.9%)	124 (15.3%)	223 (27.6%)	224 (27.7%)	4 (0.5%)	10 (1.2%)	87 (10.8%)	$7,402							63.8	60.8	2019	134
063597006157	1886	Rio Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	20417 Cedarcreek St.	Canyon Country	91351	Los Angeles County	Saugus Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 294-5330	474	17	27.8	78.3%	65 (13.7%)	9 (1.9%)	352 (74.3%)	30 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.8%)	$10,553							63.8	67.9	1676	210
062448003659	1887	Mendocino K-8	Public	K-8	44261 Little Lake Rd.	Mendocino	95460	Mendocino County	Mendocino Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 937-0515	246	17	14.5	68.3%	186 (75.6%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (16.7%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (6.5%)	$9,360							63.8	57.5	2167	280
060002910354	1888	Daniel N. Buchanan Elementary	Public	K-5	40121 Torrey Pines Rd.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 696-1428	843	34	24.9	58.6%	228 (27.0%)	44 (5.2%)	385 (45.7%)	84 (10.0%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.7%)	93 (11.0%)								63.8	58.9	2100	212
062271003309	1889	Rio Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	4243 Satsuma Ave.	North Hollywood	91602	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 761-6147	349	16	22.5	52.7%	125 (35.8%)	14 (4.0%)	112 (32.1%)	42 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (16.0%)	$12,940							63.8	76.6	1296	593
060004711784	1890	George Kelly Elementary	Public	K-8	535 Mabel Josephine Dr.	Tracy	95377	San Joaquin County	Tracy Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 830-3390	926	42	22.1	58.6%	157 (17.0%)	40 (4.3%)	303 (32.7%)	339 (36.6%)	3 (0.3%)	14 (1.5%)	70 (7.6%)	$5,339							63.7	68.3	1660	230

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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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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