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)
063432008963	2061	Bethune K-8	Public	K-8	6835 Benjamin Holt Rd.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 267-2271	529	22	24.2	70.5%	9 (1.7%)	28 (5.3%)	118 (22.3%)	309 (58.4%)	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	59 (11.2%)	$7,666							60	62.2	1940	121
060003701550	2062	Ferndale Elementary	Public	K-8	164 Shaw Ave.	Ferndale	95536	Humboldt County	Ferndale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 786-5300	349	18	19.3	45.3%	253 (72.5%)	1 (0.3%)	68 (19.5%)	2 (0.6%)	17 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)	$11,978							60	55.8	2241	179
062157002571	2063	Liberty Elementary	Public	K-8	1771 East Pacific Ave.	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Liberty Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-1675	819	36	22.5	44.0%	325 (39.7%)	14 (1.7%)	428 (52.3%)	16 (2.0%)	14 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	21 (2.6%)	$7,281							60	52.5	2407	344
062271007119	2064	Garden Grove Elementary	Public	K-5	18141 Valerio St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 343-4762	302	15	20.1	90.7%	23 (7.6%)	4 (1.3%)	246 (81.5%)	25 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)	$11,443							59.9	39.2	3197	1133
061488001863	2065	James Monroe Elementary	Public	K-6	16225 Newhope St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6264	560	22	25.4	67.7%	29 (5.2%)	2 (0.4%)	491 (87.7%)	19 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	18 (3.2%)	$11,836							59.9	62.8	1909	156
060964001027	2066	Walnut Elementary	Public	K-5	581 Dena Dr.	Newbury Park	91320	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 498-3608	269	13	20.6	52.0%	66 (24.5%)	3 (1.1%)	168 (62.5%)	22 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.7%)	$7,404							59.9	60.7	2024	42
063795006397	2067	Stanislaus Elementary	Public	K-6	1931 Kiernan Ave.	Modesto	95356	Stanislaus County	Stanislaus Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 545-0718	292	16	17.8	60.6%	88 (30.1%)	5 (1.7%)	128 (43.8%)	35 (12.0%)	3 (1.0%)	3 (1.0%)	30 (10.3%)	$11,055							59.9	63.1	1896	171
060216810500	2068	Coastal Grove Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1897 S St.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Coastal Grove Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 825-8804	220	15	14.4	60.0%	158 (71.8%)	4 (1.8%)	21 (9.5%)	1 (0.5%)	5 (2.3%)	1 (0.5%)	25 (11.4%)								59.8	47.8	2656	588
063680006234	2069	Inyokern Elementary	Public	K-5	6601 Locust St.	Inyokern	93527	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1683	153	7	21.4	77.1%	80 (52.3%)	4 (2.6%)	45 (29.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (13.1%)								59.8	59.5	2081	12
063386005312	2070	San Joaquin Elementary	Public	K-6	22182 Barbera	Laguna Hills	92653	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 581-3450	229	11	21	76.9%	32 (14.0%)	1 (0.4%)	161 (70.3%)	21 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	12 (5.2%)	$6,739							59.8	52.3	2419	349

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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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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