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)
063360008255	1541	Catheryn Gates Elementary	Public	K-5	1051 Trehowell Dr.	Roseville	95678	Placer County	Roseville City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 771-1780	400	17	23.6	66.8%	190 (47.5%)	10 (2.5%)	94 (23.5%)	59 (14.8%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	43 (10.8%)								71	74.5	1404	137
061455001768	1542	Starr Elementary	Public	K-6	1780 West Sierra Ave.	Fresno	93711	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 451-4560	355	20	17.4	48.5%	110 (31.0%)	12 (3.4%)	192 (54.1%)	16 (4.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	23 (6.5%)	$11,014							71	63.2	1884	342
062250002754	1543	Riley Elementary	Public	K-5	3319 Sandwood St.	Lakewood	90712	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 420-9595	430	18	24.5	59.1%	30 (7.0%)	56 (13.0%)	260 (60.5%)	50 (11.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.6%)	27 (6.3%)	$10,079							71	48.3	2620	1077
063597006155	1544	Highlands Elementary	Public	K-6	27332 Catala Ave.	Saugus	91350	Los Angeles County	Saugus Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 294-5320	583	24	24.2	30.2%	166 (28.5%)	19 (3.3%)	336 (57.6%)	38 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.9%)	$10,166							71	65.9	1763	219
060210607689	1545	Museum	Public, Charter	K-8	211 Maple St.	San Diego	92103	San Diego County	Museum District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 236-8712	214	10	21.4	37.9%	90 (42.1%)	11 (5.1%)	79 (36.9%)	9 (4.2%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (10.7%)								71	82.1	1088	457
062805004280	1546	Joaquin Miller Elementary	Public	K-5	5525 Ascot Dr.	Oakland	94611	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-8142	384	16	24	40.4%	119 (31.0%)	57 (14.8%)	82 (21.4%)	38 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	87 (22.7%)	$6,072							71	73	1460	86
062292003504	1547	Los Olivos Elementary	Public	K-8	2540 Alamo Pintado Ave.	Los Olivos	93441	Santa Barbara County	Los Olivos Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 688-4025	151	10	15.5	18.5%	92 (60.9%)	3 (2.0%)	33 (21.9%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (13.9%)	$16,060							71	65.3	1794	247
062199011260	1548	Tierra Pacifica Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	986 Bostwick Ln.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Live Oak Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 462-9404	163	7	23.2	28.8%	101 (62.0%)	3 (1.8%)	36 (22.1%)	5 (3.1%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (10.4%)	$9,013							71	63.3	1876	328
062271003353	1549	Short Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	12814 Maxella Ave.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 397-4234	405	18	22.5	33.3%	105 (25.9%)	15 (3.7%)	147 (36.3%)	8 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	128 (31.6%)	$14,909							71	70.2	1570	21
063432005475	1550	Hardy Elementary	Public	K-5	5420 Montezuma Rd.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 582-0136	391	16	25	52.7%	79 (20.2%)	35 (9.0%)	132 (33.8%)	102 (26.1%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (10.2%)	$7,308							71	64.1	1838	288

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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