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
1921	Sonoma Elementary	Public	K-6	1325 Sonoma Ave.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-8432	536	25	21.1	57.8%	136 (25.4%)	8 (1.5%)	291 (54.3%)	45 (8.4%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.6%)	51 (9.5%)	$21,966			$3,349			$18,617	63	67.2	1720	201		062513003751
1922	Academy for Academic Excellence	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	17500 Mana Rd.	Apple Valley	92307	San Bernardino County	Academy for Academic Excellence District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 946-5414	1,489	68	21.8	35.5%	595 (40.0%)	43 (2.9%)	692 (46.5%)	52 (3.5%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (6.9%)	$13,411			$1,097			$12,314	63	57.6	2169	247		060191107296
1923	Horizon Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	873 First St.	Lincoln	95648	Placer County	Horizon Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 408-5200	1,757	67	26.3	55.5%	915 (52.1%)	105 (6.0%)	405 (23.1%)	82 (4.7%)	4 (0.2%)	13 (0.7%)	228 (13.0%)	$11,551			$253			$11,298	62.9	63.9	1881	42		060173003557
1924	Walt Disney Elementary	Public	K-5	1220 West Orange Grove Ave.	Burbank	91506	Los Angeles County	Burbank Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 729-0100	419	17	24.6	37.0%	101 (24.1%)	8 (1.9%)	242 (57.8%)	15 (3.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (12.4%)								62.9	74.8	1374	550		060645000565
1925	Hollywood Beach Elementary	Public	K-6	4000 Sunset Ln.	Oxnard	93035	Ventura County	Hueneme Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 986-8720	289	13	21.4	39.1%	109 (37.7%)	5 (1.7%)	133 (46.0%)	16 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (9.0%)	$19,850			$1,285			$18,565	62.9	64.9	1821	104		061785002202
1926	Andasol Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	10126 Encino Ave.	Northridge	91325	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 349-8631	411	20	21	75.7%	48 (11.7%)	19 (4.6%)	249 (60.6%)	39 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	54 (13.1%)	$24,546			$4,219			$20,327	62.9	61.3	2020	94		062271002814
1927	Synergy Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	900 East 33rd St.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Synergy Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 235-7960	318	13	24.4	95.6%	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	315 (99.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,049			$3,159			$17,890	62.9	60.2	2057	130		060222810846
1928	Descanso Elementary	Public	K-6	24842 Viejas Blvd.	Descanso	91916	San Diego County	Mountain Empire Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 445-2126	188	9	20.8	45.2%	102 (54.3%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (39.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.3%)	$17,347			$1,884			$15,463	62.8	74.6	1383	545		062610003902
1929	Columbia Elementary	Public	K-4	10142 Old Oregon Trail	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Columbia Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 223-4070	430	23	18.6	40.0%	295 (68.6%)	1 (0.2%)	68 (15.8%)	16 (3.7%)	12 (2.8%)	2 (0.5%)	36 (8.4%)	$12,829			$1,623			$11,206	62.8	58.8	2114	185		060945000961
1930	Southgate Elementary	Public	K-6	26601 Calaroga Ave.	Hayward	94545	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3905	581	27	21.9	63.9%	16 (2.8%)	22 (3.8%)	241 (41.5%)	216 (37.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.2%)	56 (9.6%)	$22,689			$2,434			$20,255	62.7	64.6	1842	88		061674002132

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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