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
881	Malibu Elementary	Public	K-5	6955 Fernhill Dr.	Malibu	90265	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 457-9370	242	13	18.7	19.4%	184 (76.0%)	6 (2.5%)	33 (13.6%)	7 (2.9%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	10 (4.1%)								86	79.4	1181	300		063570007138
882	Rockdale Visual & Performing Arts Magnet	Public	K-6	1303 Yosemite Dr.	Los Angeles	90041	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 255-6793	325	15	21.6	46.5%	71 (21.8%)	3 (0.9%)	176 (54.2%)	35 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (12.3%)	$19,942			$2,966			$16,976	85.9	82.1	1065	183		062271003312
883	Bay Park Elementary	Public	K-5	2433 Denver St.	San Diego	92110	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 605-1100	504	19	26.3	28.8%	344 (68.3%)	4 (0.8%)	96 (19.0%)	10 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (9.9%)	$18,132			$2,394			$15,738	85.9	87	866	17		063432005416
884	Gravenstein Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	3840 Twig Ave.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Gravenstein Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 823-5361	464	23	19.9	24.1%	270 (58.2%)	1 (0.2%)	120 (25.9%)	17 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (11.9%)	$13,976			$297			$13,679	85.9	91	633	251		061584002000
885	Buri Buri Elementary	Public	K-5	325 Del Monte Ave.	South San Francisco	94080	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8776	584	26	22.4	28.3%	77 (13.2%)	1 (0.2%)	219 (37.5%)	217 (37.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.2%)	63 (10.8%)	$18,759			$1,760			$16,999	85.9	78.7	1211	326		063753006341
886	Alisal Elementary	Public	K-5	1454 Santa Rita Rd.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4200	544	23	23.6	8.8%	138 (25.4%)	9 (1.7%)	60 (11.0%)	289 (53.1%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (8.1%)	$16,669			$254			$16,415	85.9	81.5	1091	205		060002009285
887	Casita Center for Science/Math/Technology	Public	K-5	260 Cedar Dr.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Vista Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 724-8442	744	28	26.5	42.3%	274 (36.8%)	8 (1.1%)	354 (47.6%)	43 (5.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	63 (8.5%)	$15,964			$1,809			$14,155	85.9	88.7	766	121		064119006816
888	Ohlone Elementary	Public	K-5	201 Turquoise Dr.	Hercules	94547	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1443	482	21	23.1	34.9%	33 (6.8%)	53 (11.0%)	114 (23.7%)	199 (41.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.8%)	78 (16.2%)	$5,313			$1,574			$3,739	85.9	76.2	1329	441		063255005048
889	Carver (Charles J.) Elementary	Public	K-6	19200 East Ely St.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7840	444	19	23.3	55.4%	20 (4.5%)	37 (8.3%)	192 (43.2%)	154 (34.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	39 (8.8%)	$17,806			$2,135			$15,671	85.8	89.7	717	172		060162000008
890	Joseph Arnold Elementary	Public	K-5	4100 227th St.	Torrance	90505	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4524	628	26	24.1	29.8%	92 (14.6%)	27 (4.3%)	153 (24.4%)	260 (41.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	94 (15.0%)	$16,215			$524			$15,691	85.8	90.1	700	190		063942006552

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.