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
861	JCS - Mountain Oaks	Public, Charter	K-8	539 Encinitas Blvd.	Encinitas	92024	San Diego County	JCS - Mountain Oaks District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 632-4989	255	16	16.2	25.9%	165 (64.7%)	2 (0.8%)	33 (12.9%)	22 (8.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (12.5%)	$14,431			$424			$14,007	86.3	82.6	1050	189		060192914231
862	Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies	Public, Alternative	4-12	18605 Erwin St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-5600	1,712	73	23.3	57.6%	637 (37.2%)	61 (3.6%)	613 (35.8%)	269 (15.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	129 (7.5%)	$17,806			$2,799			$15,007	86.3	81.3	1101	239		062271009151
863	Bishop's Peak Elementary	Public	K-6	451 Jaycee Dr.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4030	358	17	21	34.1%	226 (63.1%)	2 (0.6%)	67 (18.7%)	19 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	43 (12.0%)	$17,402			$2,074			$15,328	86.3	81.2	1106	243		063480005869
864	Charles Wagner Elementary	Public	K-6	717 East Yorba Linda Blvd.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7180	440	21	20.5	27.7%	146 (33.2%)	1 (0.2%)	169 (38.4%)	88 (20.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (8.0%)	$18,404			$989			$17,415	86.3	70.4	1579	715		063066004775
865	Playa Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	13150 West Bluff Creek Dr.	Playa Vista	90094	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(424) 228-1800	488	22	22.1	21.7%	148 (30.3%)	72 (14.8%)	84 (17.2%)	72 (14.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	111 (22.7%)	$18,655			$2,607			$16,048	86.2	83.5	1018	153		062271013195
866	Douglas City Elementary	Public	K-8	100 School Rd.	Douglas City	96024	Trinity County	Douglas City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 623-6350	162	10	16.9	50.6%	109 (67.3%)	3 (1.9%)	12 (7.4%)	16 (9.9%)	10 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.4%)	$20,569			$1,138			$19,431	86.2	85.4	936	70		061143001259
867	John Muir	Public	K-8	4431 Mt. Herbert Ave.	San Diego	92117	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 268-1954	336	17	19.7	43.8%	100 (29.8%)	21 (6.3%)	181 (53.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (9.8%)	$23,931			$3,140			$20,791	86.2	47.9	2670	1803		063432005487
868	Longfellow Utk-8	Public	K-8	5055 July St.	San Diego	92110	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-8300	726	31	23.8	30.7%	271 (37.3%)	44 (6.1%)	330 (45.5%)	8 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	71 (9.8%)	$17,543			$2,333			$15,210	86.2	82.8	1047	179		063432005505
869	Abraham Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-6	3101 Pacific View Dr.	Corona Del Mar	92625	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6955	336	24	14.2	35.1%	178 (53.0%)	6 (1.8%)	55 (16.4%)	60 (17.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	35 (10.4%)	$30,464			$1,636			$28,828	86.2	90.1	695	174		062724000755
870	Marshall Elementary	Public	K-5	20111 Marshall St.	Castro Valley	94546	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 537-2431	515	21	24.5	44.5%	71 (13.8%)	20 (3.9%)	142 (27.6%)	213 (41.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	64 (12.4%)	$14,527			$549			$13,978	86.2	89	746	124		060780000746

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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 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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.