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)
061734014557	4041	Rancho Santana	Public	K-8	1454 Santana Ranch Dr.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 630-6300	653	22	29.6	47.6%	100 (15.3%)	10 (1.5%)	478 (73.2%)	22 (3.4%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (1.8%)	29 (4.4%)								28.7	24.3	4431	390
062316010900	4042	Helen Keller Elementary	Public	K-6	3521 Palm Ave.	Lynwood	90262	Los Angeles County	Lynwood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 886-5700	434	17	25.5	98.2%	5 (1.2%)	29 (6.7%)	396 (91.2%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$4,833							28.7	24.6	4406	364
060907000930	4043	Westside Elementary	Public	K-6	82-225 Airport Blvd.	Thermal	92274	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 399-5171	336	17	19.5	92.0%	4 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	329 (97.9%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$14,114							28.7	13.4	5457	1414
060016010252	4044	Rivergold Elementary	Public	K-8	31800 Road 400	Coarsegold	93614	Madera County	Yosemite Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 658-7566	433	19	22.2	62.4%	287 (66.3%)	3 (0.7%)	91 (21.0%)	10 (2.3%)	9 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (7.4%)	$5,507							28.7	39.9	3139	905
060837000816	4045	Citrus Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	1350 Citrus Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3107	383	19	20.1	81.5%	109 (28.5%)	15 (3.9%)	143 (37.3%)	54 (14.1%)	7 (1.8%)	8 (2.1%)	47 (12.3%)	$13,113							28.7	26.2	4256	211
062922009598	4046	Christa McAuliffe Elementary	Public	K-5	3300 West Via Marina Ave.	Oxnard	93035	Ventura County	Oxnard	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 385-1560	500	26	19.2	76.0%	48 (9.6%)	17 (3.4%)	394 (78.8%)	19 (3.8%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.8%)	$4,068							28.7	34.8	3516	530
062271002866	4047	Broadacres Avenue Elementary Visual & Performing Arts Magnet	Public	K-5	19424 South Broadacres Ave.	Carson	90746	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 537-1980	277	15	18.4	86.6%	2 (0.7%)	199 (71.8%)	44 (15.9%)	3 (1.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	27 (9.7%)	$15,064							28.7	26.8	4198	151
064119006822	4048	Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts	Public	K-5	600 North Santa Fe Ave.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 941-0880	718	29	24.7	70.1%	111 (15.5%)	16 (2.2%)	560 (78.0%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	22 (3.1%)	$8,915							28.7	30.5	3845	203
062460011688	4049	Joe Stefani	Public	3-6	2768 Ranchero Ln.	Merced	95348	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 724-2500	608	23	26	90.5%	59 (9.7%)	24 (3.9%)	370 (60.9%)	122 (20.1%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	27 (4.4%)	$7,358							28.7	23.3	4532	483
060153612225	4050	Rocketship Si Se Puede Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	2249 Dobern Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Rocketship Si Se Puede Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(877) 806-0920	304	12	25.3	85.5%	4 (1.3%)	3 (1.0%)	264 (86.8%)	30 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)								28.7	29.5	3942	108

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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:

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.