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)
062223007743	11	Elkhorn	Public	4-8	10505 North Davis Rd.	Stockton	95209	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 953-8312	270	10	26.6	41.5%	40 (14.8%)	12 (4.4%)	50 (18.5%)	128 (47.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	38 (14.1%)	$10,658							99.2	98.8	37	26
063066004763	12	Golden Elementary	Public	K-6	740 East Golden Ave.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7160	803	29	27.6	18.8%	167 (20.8%)	6 (0.7%)	137 (17.1%)	429 (53.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	61 (7.6%)	$5,614							99.1	98.8	36	24
063480009192	13	Teach Elementary	Public	4-6	165 Grand Ave.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4100	168	6	28	23.8%	119 (70.8%)	1 (0.6%)	13 (7.7%)	14 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (11.3%)	$11,338							99.1	99	25	12
062259006163	14	Jack L. Weaver Elementary	Public	K-5	11872 Wembley Rd.	Los Alamitos	90720	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4580	634	26	24.7	9.3%	134 (21.1%)	11 (1.7%)	133 (21.0%)	228 (36.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	125 (19.7%)	$5,147							99.1	99.1	22	8
062271003470	15	Wonderland Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	8510 Wonderland Ave.	Los Angeles	90046	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 654-4401	442	18	24.5	27.1%	232 (52.5%)	10 (2.3%)	34 (7.7%)	89 (20.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	75 (17.0%)	$9,423							99.1	98.7	38	23
062271002833	16	Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet Elementary	Public	1-5	17020 Labrador St.	Northridge	91325	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 349-4801	682	27	25.2	27.4%	216 (31.7%)	13 (1.9%)	165 (24.2%)	196 (28.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	90 (13.2%)	$8,744							99	99.3	6	10
063543006044	17	Millikin Elementary	Public	K-5	615 Hobart Terrace	Santa Clara	95051	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-1800	507	22	23	4.7%	26 (5.1%)	6 (1.2%)	10 (2.0%)	439 (86.6%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.9%)	$8,165							99	99.3	7	10
061074012091	18	Ocean Air	Public	K-6	11444 Canter Heights Dr.	San Diego	92130	San Diego County	Del Mar Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 481-4040	493	23	21.4	3.0%	165 (33.5%)	4 (0.8%)	39 (7.9%)	234 (47.5%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	47 (9.5%)	$11,780							99	99.2	16	2
061029001144	19	John Muir Elementary	Public	K-5	6560 Hanover Dr.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Cupertino Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 252-5265	542	23	23.9	7.0%	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	427 (78.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	104 (19.2%)	$9,699							99	98.9	30	11
060453000414	20	Central Elementary	Public	K-5	525 Middle Rd.	Belmont	94002	San Mateo County	Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 637-4820	436	17	25.6	6.9%	127 (29.1%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (6.9%)	174 (39.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	103 (23.6%)	$11,089							98.9	98.8	33	13

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

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.