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)
063386000769	1751	Lake Forest Elementary	Public	K-6	21801 Pittsford Dr.	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 830-9945	688	30	22.8	55.5%	171 (24.9%)	15 (2.2%)	328 (47.7%)	92 (13.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	80 (11.6%)	$5,305							66.5	66.1	1752	1
061488001889	1752	Louis G. Zeyen Elementary	Public	K-6	12081 South Magnolia St.	Garden Grove	92841	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6535	223	10	23.4	83.9%	7 (3.1%)	2 (0.9%)	113 (50.7%)	91 (40.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.5%)	$13,176							66.5	61.8	1974	222
063525005973	1753	John S. Wash Elementary	Public	K-6	6350 East Ln. Ave.	Fresno	93727	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6320	815	34	24	60.6%	87 (10.7%)	21 (2.6%)	376 (46.1%)	261 (32.0%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	65 (8.0%)	$10,451							66.5	70.5	1556	197
061578013165	1754	Bell Hill Academy	Public	K-4	342 South School St.	Grass Valley	95945	Nevada County	Grass Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 273-2281	231	11	21	63.2%	120 (51.9%)	3 (1.3%)	97 (42.0%)	1 (0.4%)	8 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$7,648							66.4	63.6	1863	109
061233001397	1755	Elk Grove Elementary	Public	K-6	9373 Crowell Dr.	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-3766	855	34	25.1	41.1%	213 (24.9%)	61 (7.1%)	251 (29.4%)	234 (27.4%)	1 (0.1%)	17 (2.0%)	78 (9.1%)	$6,650							66.4	75.1	1371	384
060774011330	1756	Northlake Hills Elementary	Public	K-7	32545 Ridge Route Rd.	Castaic	91384	Los Angeles County	Castaic Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 257-4560	579	23	25.1	58.2%	198 (34.2%)	13 (2.2%)	314 (54.2%)	23 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (5.4%)	$4,774							66.4	70.3	1567	189
063207011102	1757	Highland Grove Elementary	Public	K-5	7700 Orange St.	Highland	92346	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-2420	514	20	25.2	66.9%	73 (14.2%)	23 (4.5%)	315 (61.3%)	73 (14.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	28 (5.4%)	$5,581							66.4	64.7	1815	58
061389001581	1758	Blanche Sprentz Elementary	Public	K-5	249 Flower Dr.	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9110	343	15	22.1	36.7%	173 (50.4%)	12 (3.5%)	86 (25.1%)	25 (7.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (13.4%)	$7,206							66.4	66.2	1748	10
062772004192	1759	Olive Elementary	Public	K-5	620 Olive Ave.	Novato	94945	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 897-2131	362	17	21.8	39.5%	153 (42.3%)	9 (2.5%)	145 (40.1%)	13 (3.6%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	38 (10.5%)	$8,315							66.4	64.1	1839	80
060177611727	1760	California Montessori Project - Elk Grove Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	8828 Elk Grove Blvd. Ste. 4	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	California Montessori Project - Elk Grove Campus District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 714-9699	543	22	25.2	29.3%	136 (25.0%)	22 (4.1%)	162 (29.8%)	136 (25.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	85 (15.7%)								66.4	67.6	1690	70

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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