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
2271	Madera Elementary	Public	K-6	250 Royal Ave.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6740	264	12	22	54.9%	107 (40.5%)	3 (1.1%)	130 (49.2%)	19 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$15,668			$1,228			$14,440	55.5	73.4	1436	835		063684006261
2272	Magee Academy of Arts & Sciences	Public	K-5	8200 Serapis Ave.	Pico Rivera	90660	Los Angeles County	El Rancho Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 801-7620	376	14	26.8	82.2%	5 (1.3%)	3 (0.8%)	366 (97.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$20,489			$1,093			$19,396	55.5	45.5	2831	559		061218001373
2273	Kelly Elementary	Public	K-8	2320 East Alondra Blvd.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6410	685	26	25.8	89.6%	0 (0.0%)	66 (9.6%)	607 (88.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (1.0%)	$21,770			$3,375			$18,395	55.5	53.7	2361	88		060962000984
2274	Nea Community Learning Center	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1900 Third St.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Nea Community Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4008	479	23	21.2	32.2%	115 (24.0%)	64 (13.4%)	135 (28.2%)	76 (15.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (18.0%)	$15,967			$715			$15,252	55.5	51.5	2476	202		060188712399
2275	San Rafael Elementary	Public	K-5	1090 Nithsdale Rd.	Pasadena	91105	Los Angeles County	Pasadena Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 396-5790	412	16	25.7	34.0%	62 (15.0%)	9 (2.2%)	298 (72.3%)	7 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (8.5%)	$23,581			$3,908			$19,673	55.5	60.5	2047	228		062994004686
2276	Richmond Elementary	Public	K-5	348 Rowe St.	Ridgecrest	93555	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1840	364	22	16.5	61.0%	160 (44.0%)	36 (9.9%)	132 (36.3%)	9 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	26 (7.1%)	$16,541			$1,252			$15,289	55.5	54.7	2303	27		063680006241
2277	River Glen	Public	K-8	1088 Broadway	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6240	463	16	29.3	46.9%	41 (8.9%)	5 (1.1%)	391 (84.4%)	8 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.9%)	$20,522			$752			$19,770	55.5	48.4	2642	365		063459004084
2278	Sunny Sands Elementary	Public	K-5	69-310 McCallum Way	Cathedral City	92234	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 770-8635	692	33	20.9	93.4%	51 (7.4%)	6 (0.9%)	583 (84.2%)	34 (4.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.3%)	$22,063			$1,868			$20,195	55.5	53.8	2355	77		062955009603
2279	La Mesa Dale Elementary	Public	K-5	4251 Olive Ave.	La Mesa	91941	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5740	460	18	26.2	68.3%	102 (22.2%)	51 (11.1%)	231 (50.2%)	25 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	50 (10.9%)	$17,676			$1,535			$16,141	55.5	53.6	2367	88		062025002431
2280	Lemay Street Elementary	Public	K-5	17520 Vanowen St.	Lake Balboa	91406	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 343-4696	334	17	19.6	91.9%	20 (6.0%)	6 (1.8%)	286 (85.6%)	10 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.6%)	$28,978			$4,719			$24,259	55.5	38.9	3238	958		062271003132

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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