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)
062361003588	4811	Shasta Elementary	Public	K-8	751 East Edison St.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7400	797	34	23.5	80.8%	130 (16.3%)	22 (2.8%)	553 (69.4%)	54 (6.8%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	30 (3.8%)	$5,144							20.4	31.9	3734	1077
069113511045	4812	Columbia Elementary	Public	K-5	21350 Rider St.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 443-2460	670	26	25.3	93.3%	18 (2.7%)	8 (1.2%)	635 (94.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.0%)	$6,034							20.4	15.4	5286	474
060768000734	4813	Anderson Heights Elementary	Public	K-5	1530 Spruce St.	Anderson	96007	Shasta County	Cascade Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 378-7050	284	15	18.7	79.9%	140 (49.3%)	2 (0.7%)	77 (27.1%)	11 (3.9%)	12 (4.2%)	6 (2.1%)	35 (12.3%)	$7,449							20.4	27.6	4112	701
062513003727	4814	Bret Harte Elementary	Public	K-6	909 Glenn Ave.	Modesto	95358	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1952	856	37	22.9	91.7%	17 (2.0%)	2 (0.2%)	798 (93.2%)	10 (1.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	26 (3.0%)	$13,309							20.4	13.7	5435	621
063384005240	4815	Ethel Phillips Elementary	Public	K-6	2930 21st Ave.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4565	430	19	22.5	92.8%	21 (4.9%)	28 (6.5%)	321 (74.7%)	29 (6.7%)	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	25 (5.8%)	$7,547							20.4	20.7	4788	27
061974002378	4816	Kings River Elementary	Public	K-8	3961 Avenue 400	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Kings River Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-7209	401	20	20	89.3%	15 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	382 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$12,531							20.4	20.9	4765	51
062547003797	4817	Garfield Elementary	Public	K-5	7425 South Garfield Ave.	Bell Gardens	90201	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 927-1915	499	30	16.8	77.0%	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	488 (97.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$6,577							20.3	21.8	4681	136
062640001486	4818	Ida Jew Academies	Public, Charter	K-8	1966 Flint Ave.	San Jose	95148	Santa Clara County	Mount Pleasant Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 223-3750	410	20	20.8	61.0%	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	372 (90.7%)	17 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.4%)	$14,109							20.3	21.7	4692	126
062361010390	4819	Joseph Widmer Junior Elementary	Public	K-8	751 Stonebridge Ln.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 938-6340	911	35	25.9	59.7%	82 (9.0%)	49 (5.4%)	450 (49.4%)	275 (30.2%)	4 (0.4%)	11 (1.2%)	40 (4.4%)	$5,072							20.3	18.7	4985	166
063801006421	4820	King Elementary	Public	K-8	2640 East Lafayette St.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7230	973	37	26.3	85.8%	13 (1.3%)	34 (3.5%)	891 (91.6%)	21 (2.2%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.1%)	$6,555							20.3	24.9	4378	442

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.