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)
061044001170	1351	Steve Luther Elementary	Public	K-6	4631 La Palma Ave.	La Palma	90623	Orange County	Cypress Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 220-6918	387	19	20.9	53.5%	57 (14.7%)	13 (3.4%)	154 (39.8%)	121 (31.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	39 (10.1%)	$512							75.3	69.5	1601	250
062250009902	1352	Alvarado Elementary	Public	K-5	1900 East 21st St.	Signal Hill	90755	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 591-7477	394	16	25.4	79.7%	23 (5.8%)	52 (13.2%)	186 (47.2%)	106 (26.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	24 (6.1%)	$11,246							75.3	65.4	1788	436
060780000741	1353	Castro Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	20185 San Miguel Ave.	Castro Valley	94546	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-1919	494	21	23.5	55.3%	75 (15.2%)	26 (5.3%)	157 (31.8%)	165 (33.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	67 (13.6%)	$5,141							75.3	74.7	1385	32
060861000855	1354	Allen (Ella B.) Elementary	Public	K-6	4300 Allen School Rd.	Bonita	91902	San Diego County	Chula Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 479-3662	405	20	20.2	46.2%	69 (17.0%)	13 (3.2%)	258 (63.7%)	39 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.4%)	$13,868							75.3	77.6	1253	101
064356012910	1355	Competitive Edge Charter Academy (CECA)	Public, Charter	K-8	34450 Stonewood Dr.	Yucaipa	92399	San Bernardino County	Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 797-0174	716	33	21.5	39.8%	379 (52.9%)	8 (1.1%)	270 (37.7%)	40 (5.6%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.0%)	$11,725							75.3	72.4	1485	130
060714000653	1356	Farnham Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	15711 Woodard Rd.	San Jose	95124	Santa Clara County	Cambrian	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 377-3321	353	15	23.5	22.1%	102 (28.9%)	11 (3.1%)	106 (30.0%)	91 (25.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (12.2%)	$5,676							75.3	87.7	835	521
063432005485	1357	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-5	3770 Utah St.	San Diego	92104	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-3300	381	17	23	51.7%	122 (32.0%)	12 (3.1%)	183 (48.0%)	15 (3.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (12.6%)	$8,637							75.3	73.2	1450	93
060861000860	1358	Halecrest Elementary	Public	K-6	475 East J St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Chula Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 421-0771	431	21	20.5	53.1%	62 (14.4%)	7 (1.6%)	316 (73.3%)	27 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.4%)	$10,494							75.2	67.6	1687	329
060003611734	1359	Heron	Public	K-8	5151 Banfield Dr.	Sacramento	95835	Sacramento County	Natomas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 567-5680	1,045	44	23.7	28.9%	234 (22.4%)	137 (13.1%)	298 (28.5%)	212 (20.3%)	6 (0.6%)	10 (1.0%)	148 (14.2%)	$6,651							75.1	65.7	1776	417
063386005308	1360	Montevideo Elementary	Public	K-6	24071 Carrillo Dr.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 586-8050	456	20	22.3	44.5%	174 (38.2%)	4 (0.9%)	162 (35.5%)	68 (14.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.3%)	$5,364							75.1	73.5	1442	82

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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