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
1121	Summerdale Elementary	Public	K-5	1100 Summerdale Dr.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1960	274	11	24.9	38.3%	11 (4.0%)	7 (2.6%)	78 (28.5%)	161 (58.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	13 (4.7%)	$19,363			$1,136			$18,227	80.9	69.3	1619	498		060480000467
1122	La Madera Elementary	Public	K-6	25350 Serrano Rd.	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 770-1415	554	23	24.4	37.4%	209 (37.7%)	2 (0.4%)	184 (33.2%)	86 (15.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	72 (13.0%)	$17,051			$1,363			$15,688	80.8	81	1114	8		063386005300
1123	Garfield Elementary	Public	K-5	4487 Oregon St.	San Diego	92116	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 362-4300	308	14	22	77.6%	54 (17.5%)	52 (16.9%)	173 (56.2%)	5 (1.6%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (6.8%)	$23,563			$4,192			$19,371	80.8	67.7	1697	574		063432008304
1124	Lake County International Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	15850 Armstrong St.	Middletown	95461	Lake County	Lake County International Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 987-3063	88	4	22	76.1%	60 (68.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (25.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (6.8%)	$14,444			$1,912			$12,532	80.8	76.8	1296	172		060155910819
1125	Carroll Elementary	Public	K-6	10325 Stathos Dr.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 714-0106	854	36	23.9	55.3%	93 (10.9%)	111 (13.0%)	160 (18.7%)	395 (46.3%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.6%)	80 (9.4%)	$15,763			$935			$14,828	80.8	88.6	780	345		061233011726
1126	Maya Lin	Public	K-5	825 Taylor Ave.	Alameda	94501	Alameda County	Alameda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 748-4007	475	18	26.3	38.5%	164 (34.5%)	25 (5.3%)	101 (21.3%)	85 (17.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	100 (21.1%)	$18,973			$1,414			$17,559	80.8	77.1	1286	160		060177013107
1127	Pleasant Grove Elementary	Public	K-6	10160 Pleasant Grove School Rd	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 685-9630	393	16	24.5	36.1%	131 (33.3%)	12 (3.1%)	105 (26.7%)	87 (22.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	54 (13.7%)	$19,343			$2,058			$17,285	80.8	83.3	1025	102		061233001409
1128	Enslen Elementary	Public	K-6	515 Coldwell Ave.	Modesto	95354	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-1982	385	17	22	45.2%	193 (50.1%)	8 (2.1%)	128 (33.2%)	12 (3.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	42 (10.9%)	$20,699			$3,595			$17,104	80.8	74.8	1370	242		062513003730
1129	Theodore Judah Elementary	Public	K-6	3919 McKinley Blvd.	Sacramento	95819	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4790	485	21	23.4	30.1%	238 (49.1%)	27 (5.6%)	138 (28.5%)	16 (3.3%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	61 (12.6%)	$21,390			$3,142			$18,248	80.8	79.6	1169	40		063384005286
1130	Lakewood Elementary	Public	K-6	2920 Middleboro Pl.	Modesto	95355	Stanislaus County	Modesto City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 574-8152	395	18	22.2	42.5%	129 (32.7%)	9 (2.3%)	183 (46.3%)	22 (5.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	50 (12.7%)	$20,897			$3,284			$17,613	80.7	80.6	1130			062513003741

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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

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.