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
2631	Vista del Valle Dual Language Academy	Public	K-5	12441 Bromont Ave.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 838-3860	416	19	21.8	77.4%	5 (1.2%)	3 (0.7%)	402 (96.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	$23,905			$4,538			$19,367	49.4	50.2	2539	92		062271012764
2632	Durham Elementary	Public	K-5	9421 Putney Dr.	Durham	95938	Butte County	Durham Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-4695	495	22	22.9	38.4%	342 (69.1%)	1 (0.2%)	104 (21.0%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (8.5%)	$11,846			$1,784			$10,062	49.4	52.8	2409	223		061173001295
2633	Surfside Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1125 South Ditmar St.	Oceanside	92054	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(760) 901-8600	234	6	37.5	73.1%	66 (28.2%)	13 (5.6%)	128 (54.7%)	8 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	13 (5.6%)	$9,504			$345			$9,159	49.3			(n/a)		062825014502
2634	San Francisco Community Alternative	Public	K-8	125 Excelsior Ave.	San Francisco	94112	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4739	230	12	18.8	50.0%	40 (17.4%)	26 (11.3%)	104 (45.2%)	29 (12.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (12.6%)	$22,548			$2,210			$20,338	49.3	60.5	2044	590		063441005663
2635	Teresa Hughes Elementary	Public	K-6	4242 Clara St.	Cudahy	90201	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 560-4422	515	26	20.1	96.7%	5 (1.0%)	4 (0.8%)	504 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$24,439			$5,020			$19,419	49.3	47.2	2721	86		062271009395
2636	Stonegate Elementary	Public	K-8	2500 La Jolla St.	West Sacramento	95691	Yolo County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 375-7600	928	41	22.6	41.9%	319 (34.4%)	43 (4.6%)	292 (31.5%)	137 (14.8%)	4 (0.4%)	14 (1.5%)	118 (12.7%)								49.3	57.8	2159	477		064158012071
2637	Hillside Elementary	Public	K-5	120 East Avenue 35	Los Angeles	90031	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 222-2665	92	6	15.3	91.3%	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	82 (89.1%)	5 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	$61,573			$15,308			$46,265	49.3	31.5	3808	1171		062271003085
2638	Equitas Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-4	1700 West Pico Blvd.	Los Angeles	90015	Los Angeles County	Equitas Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 201-0440	427	15	28.4	90.4%	3 (0.7%)	3 (0.7%)	416 (97.4%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$22,390			$2,172			$20,218	49.2	50.6	2526	112		060242512479
2639	Montara Avenue Elementary	Public	K-6	10018 Montara Ave.	South Gate	90280	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 567-1451	554	31	17.8	93.3%	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.7%)	537 (96.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	$25,178			$4,816			$20,362	49.2	49.3	2591	48		062271009394
2640	Jim Thorpe Fundamental	Public	K-5	2450 West Alton	Santa Ana	92704	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-5800	738	29	25.3	71.8%	14 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	661 (89.6%)	45 (6.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	15 (2.0%)	$23,169			$823			$22,346	49.2	56.5	2214	426		063531008248

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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:

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.