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
1021	Parkmead Elementary	Public	K-5	1920 Magnolia Way	Walnut Creek	94595	Contra Costa County	Walnut Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 944-6858	478	19	25.1	18.8%	228 (47.7%)	10 (2.1%)	71 (14.9%)	83 (17.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	84 (17.6%)	$14,558			$697			$13,861	83	87.2	852	169		064125009461
1022	Fletcher Mandarin Language & GATE Academy	Public	K-6	515 West Fletcher St.	Orange	92865	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 997-6181	493	23	21.6	48.7%	73 (14.8%)	2 (0.4%)	220 (44.6%)	149 (30.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	47 (9.5%)	$14,833			$1,182			$13,651	83	76.2	1328	306		062865004429
1023	Bancroft Elementary	Public	K-5	2200 Parish Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 933-3405	672	25	26.8	22.8%	229 (34.1%)	5 (0.7%)	186 (27.7%)	145 (21.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	104 (15.5%)	$645			$159			$486	82.9	89.7	719	304		062637003935
1024	Grant Elementary	Public	K-8	8835 Swasey Dr.	Redding	96001	Shasta County	Grant Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 243-0561	600	31	19.3	37.8%	473 (78.8%)	3 (0.5%)	42 (7.0%)	21 (3.5%)	14 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (7.8%)	$9,886			$442			$9,444	82.9	88.4	797	227		061569001980
1025	Pacific Beach Elementary	Public	K-5	1234 Tourmaline St.	San Diego	92109	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-4200	312	13	24.9	34.9%	199 (63.8%)	0 (0.0%)	71 (22.8%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	35 (11.2%)	$20,807			$2,558			$18,249	82.9	86.7	883	142		063432005531
1026	Helen Carr Castello Elementary	Public	K-6	9850 Fire Poppy Dr.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-1725	790	33	23.9	50.4%	103 (13.0%)	59 (7.5%)	191 (24.2%)	337 (42.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	98 (12.4%)	$16,219			$1,784			$14,435	82.9	80.8	1125	99		061233011065
1027	Golden Oak Community	Public	K-6	25201 Via Princessa	Santa Clarita	91387	Los Angeles County	Sulphur Springs Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 251-8929	533	19	28	33.8%	127 (23.8%)	43 (8.1%)	199 (37.3%)	98 (18.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (12.2%)	$13,742			$657			$13,085	82.9	78.7	1216	189		063822012288
1028	Edison Elementary	Public	K-8	515 East Sixth St.	Ontario	91764	San Bernardino County	Ontario-Montclair	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 984-5618	736	28	25.9	72.8%	78 (10.6%)	9 (1.2%)	562 (76.4%)	60 (8.2%)	4 (0.5%)	6 (0.8%)	17 (2.3%)	$20,083			$3,203			$16,880	82.9	81.6	1087	59		062847004395
1029	Altamont Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	6500 Garaventa Ranch Rd.	Livermore	94551	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 454-5575	620	29	21.5	15.6%	187 (30.2%)	12 (1.9%)	144 (23.2%)	222 (35.8%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	50 (8.1%)	$15,595			$2,510			$13,085	82.8	89.2	737	292		062211008438
1030	Cedarwood Elementary	Public	K-6	2851 Palo Alto Ave.	Clovis	93611	Fresno County	Clovis Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 327-6000	848	34	25	34.9%	309 (36.4%)	22 (2.6%)	337 (39.7%)	114 (13.4%)	11 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (6.4%)	$12,018			$666			$11,352	82.8	77.5	1270	240		060903005744

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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:

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

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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.