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
4982	Starlight Elementary	Public	K-5	225 Hammer Dr.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6974	383	18	21.3	91.6%	6 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	374 (97.7%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								18.3	16.6	5157	175		062949009601
4983	John W. Mack Elementary	Public	K-5	3020 South Catalina St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 730-7620	283	17	17.1	96.5%	1 (0.4%)	42 (14.8%)	226 (79.9%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.2%)	$36,142			$8,659			$27,483	18.3	16.4	5178	195		062271010882
4984	Prairie Elementary	Public	K-6	5251 Valley Hi Dr.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 422-1843	858	35	24.5	86.4%	43 (5.0%)	102 (11.9%)	390 (45.5%)	240 (28.0%)	2 (0.2%)	35 (4.1%)	46 (5.4%)	$16,736			$1,975			$14,761	18.3	17.3	5088	104		061233001411
4985	Urban Discovery Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	840 14th St.	San Diego	92101	San Diego County	Urban Discovery Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 788-4668	330	18	18.8	63.6%	52 (15.8%)	47 (14.2%)	189 (57.3%)	9 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	32 (9.7%)	$22,969			$1,269			$21,700	18.3	19.2	4929	56		060155112318
4986	Holly Drive Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	4801 Elm St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	Holly Drive Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 266-7333	108	7	16.6	84.3%	0 (0.0%)	61 (56.5%)	39 (36.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.4%)	$20,018			$3,924			$16,094	18.3			(n/a)		060230208306
4987	Pasadena Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	4330 Pasadena Ave.	Sacramento	95821	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7373	343	13	26.3	71.7%	130 (37.9%)	21 (6.1%)	115 (33.5%)	45 (13.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (9.0%)	$18,303			$3,921			$14,382	18.3	17.3	5091	104		063462005807
4988	Wayne Van Horn Elementary	Public	K-6	5501 Kleinpell Ave.	Bakersfield	93309	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 324-6538	578	25	23.5	87.4%	58 (10.0%)	76 (13.1%)	392 (67.8%)	13 (2.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (6.4%)	$18,363			$2,142			$16,221	18.2	25.7	4298	690		060639009331
4989	Grace Patterson Elementary	Public	K-6	1080 Porter St.	Vallejo	94590	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8580	353	15	23.7	84.1%	5 (1.4%)	113 (32.0%)	200 (56.7%)	11 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	19 (5.4%)	$20,539			$2,583			$17,956	18.2	23.3	4549	440		064074007368
4990	Lockeford Elementary	Public	K-8	19456 North Tully Rd.	Lockeford	95237	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-7214	541	22	24.2	73.2%	191 (35.3%)	4 (0.7%)	313 (57.9%)	9 (1.7%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	19 (3.5%)	$15,256			$2,059			$13,197	18.2	35	3521	1469		062223002657
4991	West Athens Elementary	Public	K-5	1110 West 119th St.	Los Angeles	90044	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 756-9114	545	30	18.1	97.4%	5 (0.9%)	143 (26.2%)	364 (66.8%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.5%)	$24,881			$5,504			$19,377	18.2	15.7	5240	249		062271003449

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.