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
2481	Oakbrook Academy of the Arts	Public	K-8	700 Oakbrook Dr.	Fairfield	94534	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 863-7930	573	23	24.9	53.4%	103 (18.0%)	53 (9.2%)	210 (36.6%)	133 (23.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	69 (12.0%)	$15,161			$1,357			$13,804	52.3	50.7	2520	39		061336008837
2482	Harbor Springs Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	27740 Jefferson Ave.	Temecula	92590	Riverside County	Harbor Springs Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 252-8800	299	17	17.6	60.5%	104 (34.8%)	23 (7.7%)	126 (42.1%)	22 (7.4%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (7.0%)								52.2	44.9	2869	387		060151613715
2483	Buford Elementary	Public	K-5	4919 West 109th St.	Lennox	90304	Los Angeles County	Lennox	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-8900	513	23	22.8	93.6%	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.4%)	486 (94.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.1%)	$23,973			$3,178			$20,795	52.2	54.3	2326	157		062142002563
2484	Guy Junior Emanuele Elementary	Public	K-5	100 Decoto Rd.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 471-2461	746	26	29.2	62.9%	44 (5.9%)	24 (3.2%)	272 (36.5%)	361 (48.4%)	8 (1.1%)	7 (0.9%)	30 (4.0%)	$16,264			$1,001			$15,263	52.2	40.2	3163	679		062691007481
2485	Mountain Home Charter (Alternative)	Public, Charter	K-8	41267 Highway 41	Oakhurst	93644	Madera County	Mountain Home Charter (Alternative) District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 642-1422	213	8	26.6	42.7%	147 (69.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (18.3%)	7 (3.3%)	4 (1.9%)	1 (0.5%)	15 (7.0%)	$11,159			$00			$11,159	52.2	35.9	3443	958		060236510251
2486	Panama Elementary	Public	K-6	9400 Stine Rd.	Bakersfield	93313	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 831-1741	876	33	26.5	80.4%	67 (7.6%)	44 (5.0%)	576 (65.8%)	90 (10.3%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.2%)	90 (10.3%)	$17,239			$2,450			$14,789	52.2	54.6	2312	174		060639009329
2487	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-5	1037 East Duff Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7230	477	21	22.7	95.6%	24 (5.0%)	3 (0.6%)	400 (83.9%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (9.0%)	$21,467			$3,509			$17,958	52.2	46.9	2735	248		061970002368
2488	Mark West Elementary	Public	K-6	4600 Lavell Rd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Mark West Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2990	425	22	19.2	56.0%	193 (45.4%)	2 (0.5%)	182 (42.8%)	17 (4.0%)	4 (0.9%)	2 (0.5%)	25 (5.9%)	$18,224			$733			$17,491	52.1	68.7	1656	832		062400003610
2489	McKinley Elementary	Public	K-5	645 West Olive Ave.	Redlands	92373	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-5570	315	13	24.2	67.0%	60 (19.0%)	31 (9.8%)	184 (58.4%)	11 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.2%)	$17,880			$2,139			$15,741	52.1	48	2665	176		063207004941
2490	Sandra Tovar Medeiros Elementary	Public	K-6	651 West Springer Dr.	Turlock	95382	Stanislaus County	Turlock Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 668-9600	753	33	22.8	59.2%	239 (31.7%)	22 (2.9%)	356 (47.3%)	77 (10.2%)	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	52 (6.9%)	$19,993			$1,842			$18,151	52.1	49.1	2603	113		060015811816

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.