Best Elementary Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
1491	Sierra View Elementary	Public	K-6	1323 East J St.	Oakdale	95361	Stanislaus County	Oakdale Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 848-4200	665	29	22.9	46.0%	312 (46.9%)	8 (1.2%)	307 (46.2%)	6 (0.9%)	6 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (3.9%)	$16,399			$1,347			$15,052	72.6	69.9	1599	108		060006211500
1492	Brandon Elementary	Public	K-6	195 Brandon Dr.	Goleta	93117	Santa Barbara County	Goleta Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 571-3770	429	21	20.4	42.2%	162 (37.8%)	3 (0.7%)	206 (48.0%)	16 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (9.8%)	$20,375			$625			$19,750	72.6	62.3	1968	476		061551006622
1493	Bryson Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	4470 Missouri Ave.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 569-7141	706	32	22	84.8%	10 (1.4%)	2 (0.3%)	686 (97.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.1%)	$22,085			$3,846			$18,239	72.6	68.2	1676	183		062271002870
1494	Healdsburg Elementary	Public	K-5	400 First St.	Healdsburg	95448	Sonoma County	Healdsburg Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 431-3440	401	30	13.5	73.8%	92 (22.9%)	2 (0.5%)	281 (70.1%)	6 (1.5%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (4.2%)	$30,386			$1,204			$29,182	72.5	69.3	1624	130		060004402139
1495	Coyote Canyon Elementary	Public	K-4	7889 Elm Ave.	Rancho Cucamonga	91730	San Bernardino County	Central Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 980-4743	817	31	26.3	68.9%	95 (11.6%)	143 (17.5%)	376 (46.0%)	140 (17.1%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.4%)	58 (7.1%)	$16,317			$2,622			$13,695	72.5	76.6	1308	187		060795009122
1496	Creekview Ranch	Public	K-8	8779 Cook Riolo Rd.	Roseville	95747	Placer County	Dry Creek Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 770-8845	838	39	21.3	45.9%	373 (44.5%)	29 (3.5%)	199 (23.7%)	124 (14.8%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.8%)	104 (12.4%)	$14,331			$1,109			$13,222	72.5	78.6	1218	278		061149013755
1497	Aspire River Oaks Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	1801 Pyrenees Ave.	Stockton	95210	San Joaquin County	Aspire River Oaks Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 956-8100	452	19	23.6	70.6%	25 (5.5%)	29 (6.4%)	177 (39.2%)	155 (34.3%)	2 (0.4%)	11 (2.4%)	53 (11.7%)	$16,632			$2,988			$13,644	72.5	63.8	1887	390		060245210389
1498	Hawthorne Elementary	Public	K-5	4750 Lehrer Dr.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 634-5701	248	11	22.5	61.7%	78 (31.5%)	6 (2.4%)	99 (39.9%)	28 (11.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	33 (13.3%)	$25,942			$4,249			$21,693	72.5	69.4	1617	119		063432005476
1499	Gold River Discovery Center K-8	Public	K-8	2200 Roaring Camp Dr.	Gold River	95670	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5349	712	30	23.4	31.2%	414 (58.1%)	20 (2.8%)	135 (19.0%)	56 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	82 (11.5%)	$15,695			$1,931			$13,764	72.5	71.7	1515	16		063462002560
1500	James Dukes Elementary	Public	K-6	24908 Abalar Way	Ramona	92065	San Diego County	Ramona City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 788-5060	502	23	21.8	39.2%	239 (47.6%)	4 (0.8%)	191 (38.0%)	4 (0.8%)	9 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (11.0%)	$12,438			$1,447			$10,991	72.5	79	1197	303		063171008943

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.