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
3942	Ararat Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	6555 Sylmar Ave.	Van Nuys	91401	Los Angeles County	Ararat Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 994-2904	333	15	22.9	83.8%	303 (91.0%)	1 (0.3%)	29 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,020			$2,175			$17,845	30.3	33.4	3644	298		060174212437
3943	Salida Elementary	Public	K-5	4519 Finney Rd.	Salida	95368	Stanislaus County	Salida Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 545-9394	273	12	22.7	92.7%	28 (10.3%)	3 (1.1%)	218 (79.9%)	15 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	6 (2.2%)	$22,555			$2,286			$20,269	30.3	22.6	4623	680		063390010694
3944	Hollywood Elementary	Public	K-5	1115 Tamarind Ave.	Los Angeles	90038	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 464-0331	175	11	15.9	94.3%	16 (9.1%)	6 (3.4%)	138 (78.9%)	7 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.6%)	$40,247			$7,351			$32,896	30.3	26.2	4268	324		062271010877
3945	Shannon Elementary	Public	K-6	685 Marlesta Rd.	Pinole	94564	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1454	355	17	20.8	73.5%	28 (7.9%)	34 (9.6%)	187 (52.7%)	81 (22.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (7.0%)	$6,546			$1,474			$5,072	30.2	47.2	2722	1223		063255005059
3946	Wishon Elementary	Public	K-6	3857 East Harvard Ave.	Fresno	93703	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7330	497	28	18	92.8%	26 (5.2%)	15 (3.0%)	370 (74.4%)	59 (11.9%)	2 (0.4%)	6 (1.2%)	19 (3.8%)	$20,722			$2,916			$17,806	30.2	34.5	3561	385		061455001781
3947	East Avenue Elementary	Public	K-6	2424 East Ave.	Hayward	94541	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3815	407	20	20.8	66.8%	39 (9.6%)	58 (14.3%)	204 (50.1%)	55 (13.5%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.4%)	36 (8.8%)	$26,136			$3,078			$23,058	30.2	29	4012	65		061674002109
3948	Desert Learning Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	2248 East Ramon Rd.	Palm Springs	92262	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 778-0487	317	20	15.5	89.6%	49 (15.5%)	22 (6.9%)	232 (73.2%)	6 (1.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.9%)	$21,646			$3,679			$17,967	30.2	26.9	4215	267		062955013957
3949	Norman G. Ambrosini Elementary	Public	K-4	3850 Rohnerville Rd.	Fortuna	95540	Humboldt County	Fortuna Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 725-4688	282	14	20.1	75.5%	145 (51.4%)	1 (0.4%)	91 (32.3%)	5 (1.8%)	17 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (8.2%)	$14,618			$1,116			$13,502	30.1	35	3520	429		060142005171
3950	Riverbend Elementary	Public	K-8	301 Stewart Rd.	Yuba City	95991	Sutter County	Yuba City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 822-3100	914	47	19.5	76.3%	217 (23.7%)	14 (1.5%)	411 (45.0%)	194 (21.2%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	70 (7.7%)								30.1	34.5	3562	388		064347011930
3951	Palms Elementary	Public	K-5	3520 Motor Ave.	Los Angeles	90034	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 838-7337	229	14	16.3	78.6%	19 (8.3%)	27 (11.8%)	135 (59.0%)	27 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.2%)	$32,570			$4,757			$27,813	30.1	30.5	3890	61		062271003266

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.