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
281	Carmel River Elementary	Public	K-5	Monte Verde St. and 15th Ave.	Carmel	93923	Monterey County	Carmel Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 624-4609	400	19	21	14.8%	229 (57.3%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (18.8%)	32 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (16.0%)	$37,456			$654			$36,802	95.6	93.5	472	191		060753000720
282	Newcomb Academy	Public	K-8	3351 Val Verde Ave.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 430-1250	914	37	24.8	20.1%	283 (31.0%)	56 (6.1%)	339 (37.1%)	110 (12.0%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	121 (13.2%)	$19,906			$3,894			$16,012	95.6	94.5	383	101		062250002749
283	Peabody (George) Elementary	Public	K-5	251 Sixth Ave.	San Francisco	94118	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 750-8480	269	13	21.5	21.9%	97 (36.1%)	4 (1.5%)	33 (12.3%)	79 (29.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	55 (20.4%)	$24,049			$2,603			$21,446	95.5	95.5	303	20		063441005614
284	Quail Summit Elementary	Public	K-5	23330 East Quail Summit Dr.	Diamond Bar	91765	Los Angeles County	Walnut Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 861-3004	696	28	25.3	25.0%	22 (3.2%)	11 (1.6%)	112 (16.1%)	517 (74.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (4.9%)	$14,157			$566			$13,591	95.5	97.2	142	142		064128009205
285	Deerfield Elementary	Public	K-6	2 Deerfield Ave.	Irvine	92604	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-5650	615	21	29.2	20.3%	109 (17.7%)	16 (2.6%)	96 (15.6%)	339 (55.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.6%)	$15,313			$798			$14,515	95.5	95.5	300	15		068450007054
286	Vista del Mar Elementary	Public	K-5	1130 Avenue Talega	San Clemente	92673	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5950	692	26	26.6	14.6%	460 (66.5%)	1 (0.1%)	113 (16.3%)	21 (3.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	95 (13.7%)	$17,348			$1,235			$16,113	95.5	94.3	407	121		060744011267
287	Oxford Preparatory Academy - South Orange County	Public, Charter	K-5	23000 Via Santa Maria	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Oxford Preparatory Academy - South Orange County District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 305-6111	704	27	26	12.6%	251 (35.7%)	4 (0.6%)	110 (15.6%)	229 (32.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	110 (15.6%)								95.5	97.8	93	194		060196212855
288	Del Mar Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	14085 Mango Dr.	Del Mar	92014	San Diego County	Del Mar Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 755-9763	224	14	16.4	9.4%	115 (51.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (21.4%)	29 (12.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (14.3%)	$22,781			$321			$22,460	95.5	95.1	339	51		061074001190
289	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-5	600 Harkness Ln.	Redondo Beach	90278	Los Angeles County	Redondo Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 798-8631	555	22	25.2	8.6%	243 (43.8%)	6 (1.1%)	85 (15.3%)	97 (17.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	124 (22.3%)	$15,096			$1,051			$14,045	95.5	97.1	156	133		060003204956
290	Oak Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	26730 Old Rock Rd.	Valencia	91381	Los Angeles County	Newhall	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 291-4100	660	26	25.3	24.2%	189 (28.6%)	21 (3.2%)	131 (19.8%)	236 (35.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	80 (12.1%)	$14,310			$795			$13,515	95.5	96.6	198	92		062718010904

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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:

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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