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
2871	Ann B. Leavenworth	Public	K-6	4420 East Thomas Ave.	Fresno	93702	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6490	748	37	20.4	81.6%	23 (3.1%)	20 (2.7%)	628 (84.0%)	65 (8.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (1.5%)	$17,430			$2,030			$15,400	45.2	45.9	2797	74		061455003019
2872	Wesley Gaines	Public	K-5	7340 East Jackson St.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8012	449	20	22.4	97.1%	2 (0.4%)	33 (7.3%)	394 (87.8%)	11 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	5 (1.1%)	$23,117			$1,801			$21,316	45.2	52.7	2415	457		062985004646
2873	Center for Advanced Learning	Public, Charter	K-5	4016 South Central Ave.	Los Angeles	90011	Los Angeles County	Center for Advanced Learning District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 232-0245	237	13	18.2	90.7%	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.1%)	224 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$24,395			$3,366			$21,029	45.2	32.2	3767	894		060211112044
2874	Dolores Huerta International Academy	Public	K-6	17777 Merrill Ave.	Fontana	92335	San Bernardino County	Fontana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-5070	639	27	23.6	82.6%	7 (1.1%)	7 (1.1%)	624 (97.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$15,580			$1,759			$13,821	45.2	43.8	2939	65		061392014002
2875	Mission Elementary	Public	K-8	36825 Foothill Rd.	Soledad	93960	Monterey County	Mission Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 678-3524	130	6	21.6	36.9%	29 (22.3%)	2 (1.5%)	93 (71.5%)	6 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,447			$334			$15,113	45.1	45.6	2824	51		062511003725
2876	Palmer Way	Public	K-6	2900 Palmer St.	National City	91950	San Diego County	National Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 336-8900	387	17	22.7	82.2%	4 (1.0%)	5 (1.3%)	279 (72.1%)	79 (20.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.2%)	$27,116			$3,331			$23,785	45.1	42.1	3058	182		062667004050
2877	Valley Life Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3737 West Walnut Ave.	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Valley Life Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 625-8527	688	43	16.1	39.0%	290 (42.2%)	8 (1.2%)	330 (48.0%)	10 (1.5%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	46 (6.7%)	$15,959			$349			$15,610	45.1	47.2	2723	154		060150812862
2878	Nipaquay Elementary	Public	K-5	7900 Civita Blvd.	San Diego	92108	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-1900	378	15	25.2	61.1%	114 (30.2%)	33 (8.7%)	130 (34.4%)	49 (13.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (13.8%)	$21,362			$2,951			$18,411	45.1			(n/a)		063432014617
2879	Valley Oaks Elementary	Public	K-6	21 C St.	Galt	95632	Sacramento County	Galt Joint Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 745-1564	541	23	23.5	69.1%	59 (10.9%)	1 (0.2%)	455 (84.1%)	9 (1.7%)	4 (0.7%)	5 (0.9%)	7 (1.3%)	$16,315			$1,664			$14,651	45	40.7	3140	261		061479001819
2880	Columbia Elementary	Public	K-6	703 Mondavi Way	Bakersfield	93312	Kern County	Fruitvale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 588-3540	601	31	19.6	69.7%	187 (31.1%)	21 (3.5%)	320 (53.2%)	39 (6.5%)	4 (0.7%)	6 (1.0%)	24 (4.0%)	$16,884			$1,300			$15,584	45	46.6	2757	123		061470004514

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.