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
5192	Standard Elementary	Public	K-5	115 East Minner Ave.	Bakersfield	93308	Kern County	Standard Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 392-2120	627	30	20.8	94.7%	216 (34.4%)	40 (6.4%)	355 (56.6%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.1%)	$19,848			$1,974			$17,874	15.9	15.4	5271	79		063789006390
5193	Bardin Elementary	Public	K-6	425 Bardin Rd.	Salinas	93905	Monterey County	Alisal Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 753-5730	559	21	26.6	93.0%	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	550 (98.4%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,907			$3,286			$17,621	15.9	16.8	5138	55		060195000083
5194	Desert Knolls Elementary	Public	K-6	18213 Symeron Dr.	Apple Valley	92307	San Bernardino County	Apple Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 242-3441	582	27	21.5	77.3%	142 (24.4%)	54 (9.3%)	350 (60.1%)	5 (0.9%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (4.5%)	$18,710			$2,372			$16,338	15.9	10.3	5674	480		060001709103
5195	Harriette Kirschen Elementary	Public	K-6	1900 Kirschen Dr.	Modesto	95351	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 576-4611	503	22	22.5	92.6%	23 (4.6%)	8 (1.6%)	428 (85.1%)	29 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.0%)	$20,672			$3,141			$17,531	15.9	14.8	5324	129		062513008903
5196	Blanchard Elementary	Public	K-6	115 Peck Rd.	Santa Paula	93060	Ventura County	Santa Paula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 933-8866	317	17	18.6	83.9%	19 (6.0%)	1 (0.3%)	296 (93.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,271			$3,993			$19,278	15.9	12.4	5525	329		060142106106
5197	Sheldon Elementary	Public	K-6	2601 May Rd.	Richmond	94803	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1414	318	15	21.4	67.9%	31 (9.7%)	33 (10.4%)	158 (49.7%)	60 (18.9%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (10.1%)	$6,489			$1,550			$4,939	15.8	20.7	4793	404		063255005060
5198	Lighthouse Community Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	444 Hegenberger St.	Oakland	94621	Alameda County	Lighthouse Community Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 562-8801	549	29	18.8	92.2%	6 (1.1%)	27 (4.9%)	483 (88.0%)	8 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (4.2%)	$27,062			$1,892			$25,170	15.8	18.2	5008	190		060193710408
5199	Granite Hill Elementary	Public	K-6	9371 Granite Hill	Jurupa Valley	92509	Riverside County	Jurupa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 360-2725	382	18	21.1	84.6%	34 (8.9%)	5 (1.3%)	329 (86.1%)	5 (1.3%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	$22,775			$2,256			$20,519	15.8	22.6	4622	577		061926000992
5200	Glen View Elementary	Public	K-5	600 Eighth St.	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(669) 205-4400	508	22	23	74.0%	11 (2.2%)	7 (1.4%)	416 (81.9%)	15 (3.0%)	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	53 (10.4%)	$21,130			$1,239			$19,891	15.8	17.6	5065	135		061518001912
5201	Arroyo Elementary	Public	K-6	1605 West Arroyo Ave.	Pomona	91768	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4568	479	22	21.7	93.9%	8 (1.7%)	9 (1.9%)	453 (94.6%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,660			$2,429			$18,231	15.8	22.8	4595	606		063132004837

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.