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)
061275008830	311	La Costa Heights Elementary	Public	K-6	3035 Levante St.	Carlsbad	92009	San Diego County	Encinitas Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 944-4375	593	25	23.7	11.6%	403 (68.0%)	5 (0.8%)	93 (15.7%)	36 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (9.3%)	$8,607							95.4	95.6	306	5
060297000230	312	Highland Oaks Elementary	Public	K-5	10 Virginia Dr.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-8354	635	27	23.9	22.8%	54 (8.5%)	1 (0.2%)	94 (14.8%)	412 (64.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	73 (11.5%)	$10,865							95.4	96.5	235	77
062637003980	313	Walnut Acres Elementary	Public	K-5	180 Cerezo Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 939-1333	678	22	31.5	7.7%	310 (45.7%)	9 (1.3%)	100 (14.7%)	116 (17.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	141 (20.8%)	$11,864							95.4	93.8	452	139
060780004339	314	Jensen Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	20001 Carson Ln.	Castro Valley	94552	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-6365	381	15	25.4	21.0%	63 (16.5%)	7 (1.8%)	38 (10.0%)	227 (59.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (12.1%)	$5,644							95.4	96.2	253	61
063432005530	315	Ocean Beach Elementary	Public	K-4	4741 Santa Monica Ave.	San Diego	92107	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 223-1631	406	18	22.5	48.3%	221 (54.4%)	14 (3.4%)	111 (27.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (13.8%)	$7,652							95.4	90.4	683	368
063525008474	316	Quail Lake Environmental Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4087 North Quail Lake Dr.	Clovis	93619	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6720	596	27	22.1	31.0%	198 (33.2%)	8 (1.3%)	215 (36.1%)	134 (22.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	40 (6.7%)	$8,325							95.4	95.6	313	3
063942006563	317	Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	2418 West 166th St.	Torrance	90504	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4464	408	16	25.5	37.3%	39 (9.6%)	16 (3.9%)	171 (41.9%)	123 (30.1%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	55 (13.5%)	$6,678							95.4	92.7	525	208
063231004983	318	Jackson Elementary	Public	K-5	2561 Francisco Dr.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Rescue Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 933-1828	496	21	23.2	8.5%	359 (72.4%)	2 (0.4%)	72 (14.5%)	53 (10.7%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	5 (1.0%)	$9,923							95.3	92.1	562	244
060750000711	319	Kelly Elementary	Public	K-5	4885 Kelly Dr.	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5800	441	22	19.6	12.2%	276 (62.6%)	7 (1.6%)	62 (14.1%)	26 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	70 (15.9%)	$7,592							95.3	96.6	225	94
063513005954	320	Neil A. Armstrong Elementary	Public	K-5	2849 Calais Dr.	San Ramon	94583	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-1600	463	18	25.7	7.6%	130 (28.1%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (9.1%)	244 (52.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (9.5%)	$6,951							95.3	95.3	335	15

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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.