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
3651	Waukena Joint Union Elementary	Public	K-8	19113 Road 28	Tulare	93274	Tulare County	Waukena Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 686-3328	220	10	22	84.1%	17 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	203 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,928			$1,128			$18,800	34	31.3	3835	184		064182006870
3652	Alisal Community	Public	K-6	1437 Del Monte Ave.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Alisal Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 753-5720	591	24	24.6	94.2%	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	587 (99.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$21,569			$2,662			$18,907	34	35.8	3454	198		060195000082
3653	Gold Oak Elementary	Public	K-5	3171 Pleasant Valley Rd.	Placerville	95667	El Dorado County	Gold Oak Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 626-3160	270	14	19.2	39.6%	207 (76.7%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (20.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.6%)	$13,393			$1,958			$11,435	34	38.1	3304	349		061539001962
3654	Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	6251 13th St.	Sacramento	95831	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4510	476	21	22.7	27.3%	253 (53.2%)	19 (4.0%)	122 (25.6%)	23 (4.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (12.0%)	$22,340			$3,450			$18,890	33.9	39.4	3213	441		063384007242
3655	Ulysses Grant Elementary	Public	K-6	550 West Olive St.	Colton	92324	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5024	589	25	23.5	87.3%	11 (1.9%)	10 (1.7%)	558 (94.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$23,060			$4,514			$18,546	33.9	32.6	3723	68		060939000950
3656	Mabel L. Pendleton Elementary	Public	K-5	7101 Stanton Ave.	Buena Park	90621	Orange County	Buena Park Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 521-8568	365	19	19.7	87.7%	12 (3.3%)	13 (3.6%)	285 (78.1%)	37 (10.1%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	14 (3.8%)	$22,337			$1,994			$20,343	33.9	34.6	3558	98		060636000559
3657	Westpark Elementary	Public	K-5	3600 Imperial Ave.	Rosamond	93560	Kern County	Southern Kern Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 256-5030	952	43	22.1	72.7%	229 (24.1%)	51 (5.4%)	599 (62.9%)	16 (1.7%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (5.7%)	$17,024			$2,969			$14,055	33.9	39.3	3217	440		063762011604
3658	Margaret G. Scotten Elementary	Public	K-4	10821 Squirrel Creek Rd.	Grass Valley	95945	Nevada County	Grass Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 273-6472	357	19	19.2	74.8%	257 (72.0%)	4 (1.1%)	60 (16.8%)	7 (2.0%)	5 (1.4%)	3 (0.8%)	21 (5.9%)	$19,211			$2,888			$16,323	33.8	36.2	3427	231		061578008851
3659	Lillian Larsen Elementary	Public	K-8	1601 L St.	San Miguel	93451	San Luis Obispo County	San Miguel Joint Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 467-3216	448	25	18.1	79.7%	45 (10.0%)	1 (0.2%)	392 (87.5%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	$20,543			$3,093			$17,450	33.8	32.2	3760	101		063501005927
3660	Columbus Elementary	Public	K-5	425 West Milford St.	Glendale	91203	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 242-7722	488	21	23.2	64.8%	346 (70.9%)	10 (2.0%)	93 (19.1%)	33 (6.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$17,543			$1,325			$16,218	33.8	48.9	2614	1046		061524001922

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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