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
321	Loomis Basin Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	5438 Laird Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-2642	505	22	22.7	9.3%	354 (70.1%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (11.9%)	27 (5.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (12.5%)	$9,509			$00			$9,509	95.1	92.5	535	214		062256012246
322	Camino Pablo Elementary	Public	K-5	1111 Camino Pablo	Moraga	94556	Contra Costa County	Moraga Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 376-4435	340	17	20	4.4%	173 (50.9%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (11.2%)	45 (13.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	84 (24.7%)	$18,087			$968			$17,119	95.1	94.7	370	48		062574003849
323	Happy Valley Elementary	Public	K-6	3125 Branciforte Dr.	Santa Cruz	95065	Santa Cruz County	Happy Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 429-1456	106	6	16.5	7.5%	82 (77.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.5%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (13.2%)	$16,983			$415			$16,568	95.1	95.5	305	18		061656002088
324	Green Hills Elementary	Public	K-5	401 Ludeman Ln.	Millbrae	94030	San Mateo County	Millbrae Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 588-6485	338	15	22.5	14.8%	35 (10.4%)	2 (0.6%)	52 (15.4%)	213 (63.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	33 (9.8%)	$15,718			$1,586			$14,132	95.1	92.5	543	219		062490003717
325	Sierra Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	1811 North Placentia Ave.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7270	454	18	25.7	33.7%	107 (23.6%)	10 (2.2%)	199 (43.8%)	95 (20.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	42 (9.3%)	$16,432			$922			$15,510	95.1	87.6	837	512		063066004770
326	Oster Elementary	Public	K-5	1855 Lencar Way	San Jose	95124	Santa Clara County	Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 266-8121	627	24	26	12.8%	148 (23.6%)	6 (1.0%)	112 (17.9%)	323 (51.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (6.1%)	$15,968			$1,010			$14,958	95.1	96.4	221	105		064032006678
327	Rancho Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	4323 Palos Verdes Dr. North	Rolling Hills Estates	90274	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 378-8388	329	18	18.3	14.0%	122 (37.1%)	6 (1.8%)	56 (17.0%)	90 (27.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (16.7%)	$15,779			$489			$15,290	95.1	98.5	50	277		062970004619
328	Ladera Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	29551 Sienna Pkwy.	Ladera Ranch	92694	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5915	580	24	24.1	24.8%	336 (57.9%)	3 (0.5%)	85 (14.7%)	68 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	88 (15.2%)	$17,974			$1,434			$16,540	95	96.9	173	155		060744011248
329	Tierra Bonita Elementary	Public	K-5	14678 Tierra Bonita Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-8540	377	17	22.8	8.2%	224 (59.4%)	4 (1.1%)	72 (19.1%)	22 (5.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (13.8%)	$18,332			$771			$17,561	95	95.8	284	45		063153004897
330	Plavan (Urbain H.) Elementary	Public	K-5	9675 Warner Ave.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4230	530	20	26.5	33.6%	88 (16.6%)	2 (0.4%)	78 (14.7%)	288 (54.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	72 (13.6%)	$14,397			$1,046			$13,351	95	97.9	85	245		061422001633

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.