Best Elementary Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
3892	Arroyo Elementary	Public	K-6	225 Ulysses St.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 306-4420	264	12	22	67.0%	32 (12.1%)	2 (0.8%)	212 (80.3%)	7 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	10 (3.8%)	$18,308			$3,002			$15,306	30.8	35.8	3448	444		063684010712
3893	Von Renner Elementary	Public	K-5	1388 Patchett Dr.	Newman	95360	Stanislaus County	Newman-Crows Landing Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 862-2868	530	25	21.2	69.2%	19 (3.6%)	1 (0.2%)	504 (95.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$14,229			$638			$13,591	30.8	29.1	4009	116		062720004101
3894	Abraham Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-5	74-100 Rutledge Way	Palm Desert	92260	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 862-4340	607	24	25.2	86.7%	76 (12.5%)	7 (1.2%)	482 (79.4%)	18 (3.0%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.1%)	$20,048			$3,300			$16,748	30.8	23.6	4515	621		061111001230
3895	San Francisco Public Montessori	Public	K-5	2340 Jackson St.	San Francisco	94115	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 749-3544	107	4	26.7	52.3%	24 (22.4%)	16 (15.0%)	30 (28.0%)	11 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.9%)	24 (22.4%)	$25,206			$1,708			$23,498	30.8	65.2	1808	2087		063441012788
3896	Grenada Elementary	Public	K-8	516 Shasta Blvd.	Grenada	96038	Siskiyou County	Grenada Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 436-2233	210	11	19	48.1%	143 (68.1%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (17.1%)	2 (1.0%)	9 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (9.5%)	$16,485			$504			$15,981	30.8	33.6	3634	262		061611002011
3897	Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts	Public	K-5	600 North Santa Fe Ave.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 941-0880	740	30	24.6	81.6%	92 (12.4%)	16 (2.2%)	592 (80.0%)	9 (1.2%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	26 (3.5%)	$18,239			$2,839			$15,400	30.8	28.7	4054	157		064119006822
3898	Nancy Cory Elementary	Public	K-5	3540 West Ave. K-4	Lancaster	93536	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 722-1010	728	28	26	79.1%	91 (12.5%)	178 (24.5%)	382 (52.5%)	24 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	51 (7.0%)	$21,305			$2,849			$18,456	30.8	23.4	4542	644		062088009559
3899	Esperanza Elementary	Public	K-5	680 Little St.	Los Angeles	90017	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 484-0326	577	27	21.3	97.9%	7 (1.2%)	21 (3.6%)	539 (93.4%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	$24,625			$4,584			$20,041	30.7	25	4365	466		062271000451
3900	Nevada Avenue Elementary	Public	K-5	22120 Chase St.	West Hills	91304	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 348-2169	379	21	18.4	87.3%	24 (6.3%)	9 (2.4%)	306 (80.7%)	21 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.0%)	$28,524			$5,892			$22,632	30.7	31.3	3830	70		062271003211
3901	Rio Del Mar	Public	K-5	3150 Thames River	Oxnard	93036	Ventura County	Rio Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 485-0560	499	19	25.9	75.8%	30 (6.0%)	10 (2.0%)	418 (83.8%)	22 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	16 (3.2%)	$19,404			$2,048			$17,356	30.7	36.3	3415	486		063276011833

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.