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 9, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 5856)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
1241	Ortega (Jose) Elementary	Public	K-5	400 Sargent St.	San Francisco	94132	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4726	410	16	25.1	54.6%	14 (3.4%)	18 (4.4%)	49 (12.0%)	275 (67.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (12.9%)	$21,297			$1,864			$19,433	78	82.8	1046	195		063441005635
1242	Shadow Hills Elementary	Public	1-5	8770 Harbison Canyon Rd.	Alpine	91901	San Diego County	Alpine Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-2977	377	18	20.9	33.4%	158 (41.9%)	5 (1.3%)	161 (42.7%)	3 (0.8%)	10 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (10.3%)								78	71.8	1510	268		060210009112
1243	Goethe International Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	12500 Braddock Dr.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Goethe International Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 306-3484	479	23	20.6	25.1%	165 (34.4%)	82 (17.1%)	144 (30.1%)	22 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (13.8%)	$13,378			$535			$12,843	77.9	87	863	380		060217812215
1244	Big Springs Elementary	Public	K-6	3401 Big Springs Ave.	Simi Valley	93063	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6710	441	19	23.2	35.1%	235 (53.3%)	3 (0.7%)	149 (33.8%)	39 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	13 (2.9%)	$14,885			$1,145			$13,740	77.9	76.1	1334	90		063684006251
1245	Shelyn Elementary	Public	K-6	19500 East Nacora St.	Rowland Heights	91748	Los Angeles County	Rowland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 444-0584	508	23	21.8	64.0%	13 (2.6%)	2 (0.4%)	108 (21.3%)	352 (69.3%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	29 (5.7%)	$17,933			$886			$17,047	77.9	75.8	1341	96		063375005213
1246	Richard Henry Dana Elementary	Public	K-5	24242 La Cresta Dr.	Dana Point	92629	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 496-5784	461	26	17.7	46.2%	181 (39.3%)	2 (0.4%)	207 (44.9%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (13.9%)	$19,626			$1,630			$17,996	77.9	59.1	2106	860		060744000699
1247	Scott M. Leaman	Public	K-5	1200 Brentford Cir.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	Western Placer Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 543-0297	513	21	24.4	20.7%	268 (52.2%)	8 (1.6%)	120 (23.4%)	39 (7.6%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	74 (14.4%)	$14,769			$1,567			$13,202	77.9	79.3	1184	63		064214014464
1248	Ladera STARS Academy	Public	K-5	1211 Calle Almendro	Thousand Oaks	91360	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 492-3565	312	18	17.3	31.7%	140 (44.9%)	8 (2.6%)	120 (38.5%)	13 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	30 (9.6%)	$17,302			$1,378			$15,924	77.9	82.1	1067	181		060964001014
1249	Vibrant Minds Charter	Public, Charter	K-6	412 West Carl Karcher Way	Anaheim	92801	Orange County	Vibrant Minds Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 563-2390	245	8	32.6	74.3%	29 (11.8%)	11 (4.5%)	170 (69.4%)	21 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.7%)	$18,092			$1,220			$16,872	77.8	68.3	1671	422		060194813858
1250	Village View Elementary	Public	K-5	5361 Sisson Dr.	Huntington Beach	92649	Orange County	Ocean View	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 846-2801	236	9	26.2	39.4%	128 (54.2%)	1 (0.4%)	57 (24.2%)	28 (11.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (9.3%)	$16,293			$839			$15,454	77.8	61.4	2007	757		062814004349

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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 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 9, 2025, 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:

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

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.