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
3521	Chualar Elementary	Public	K-8	24285 Lincoln St.	Chualar	93925	Monterey County	Chualar Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 679-2313	234	13	18	83.8%	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	231 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,202			$2,730			$19,472	35.7	46	2792	729		060858000854
3522	Emmett S. Finley Elementary	Public	K-5	640 Chestnut Ave.	Holtville	92250	Imperial County	Holtville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 356-2929	559	26	21.5	80.0%	28 (5.0%)	3 (0.5%)	523 (93.6%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$20,326			$3,176			$17,150	35.7	43.5	2961	561		061743002184
3523	Achieve Charter School of Paradise Inc.	Public, Charter	K-8	771 Elliott Rd.	Paradise	95969	Butte County	Achieve Charter School of Paradise Inc. District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 762-2599	169	6	29.6	63.9%	126 (74.6%)	2 (1.2%)	23 (13.6%)	4 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (8.3%)	$16,306			$1,808			$14,498	35.7	39.2	3228	295		060213311571
3524	Daniel Webster Elementary	Public	K-5	425 El Dorado Dr.	Daly City	94015	San Mateo County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 991-1222	317	14	22.6	61.2%	20 (6.3%)	7 (2.2%)	123 (38.8%)	151 (47.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	13 (4.1%)	$19,272			$2,155			$17,117	35.7	38.8	3250	274		061887002282
3525	Cimarron Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	11559 Cimarron Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 757-1226	261	14	18.6	85.8%	2 (0.8%)	156 (59.8%)	63 (24.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.3%)	33 (12.6%)	$39,318			$7,672			$31,646	35.7	35.9	3447	78		062271002920
3526	Aspire Juanita Tate Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-6	123 West 59th St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	Aspire Juanita Tate Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 235-8400	323	15	21.4	98.5%	2 (0.6%)	14 (4.3%)	281 (87.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (8.0%)	$22,029			$3,080			$18,949	35.7	39.8	3187	339		060233512967
3527	Live Oak Elementary	Public	K-5	1916 Capitola Rd.	Santa Cruz	95062	Santa Cruz County	Live Oak Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 475-2000	362	15	24.1	58.6%	90 (24.9%)	5 (1.4%)	252 (69.6%)	7 (1.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.7%)	$19,181			$1,390			$17,791	35.7	44.3	2909	618		062199002612
3528	Sinclear Elementary	Public	K-6	1211 Hackett Rd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1680	581	25	23.2	82.6%	31 (5.3%)	2 (0.3%)	491 (84.5%)	52 (9.0%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	$19,833			$3,969			$15,864	35.6	29.6	3958	430		060813011492
3529	Meadow Lane Elementary	Public	K-5	2770 Balls Ferry Rd.	Anderson	96007	Shasta County	Cascade Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 378-7030	398	21	18.9	65.1%	220 (55.3%)	3 (0.8%)	85 (21.4%)	21 (5.3%)	18 (4.5%)	3 (0.8%)	48 (12.1%)	$19,352			$3,171			$16,181	35.6	40.4	3156	373		060768000735
3530	Grace Smith Elementary	Public	K-4	9 East Fourth St.	Niland	92257	Imperial County	Calipatria Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 359-0636	65	5	13	92.3%	11 (16.9%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (80.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	$29,569			$2,757			$26,812	35.6	54.6	2310	1220		060699000645

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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:

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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