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
221	Arroyo Elementary	Public	K-5	11112 Coronel Rd.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7381	585	21	27.8	14.5%	259 (44.3%)	1 (0.2%)	134 (22.9%)	82 (14.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	109 (18.6%)	$14,756			$1,751			$13,005	96.2	94.6	378	157		064015006633
222	Bryant Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	24695 Paseo de Toronto	Yorba Linda	92887	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7120	505	20	25.8	24.0%	163 (32.3%)	9 (1.8%)	139 (27.5%)	164 (32.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.9%)	$16,768			$897			$15,871	96.2	97	162	60		063066009996
223	Alta Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	200 Blossom Valley Rd.	Los Gatos	95032	Santa Clara County	Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 356-6146	584	23	25.9	6.8%	207 (35.4%)	1 (0.2%)	66 (11.3%)	251 (43.0%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	55 (9.4%)	$16,532			$1,399			$15,133	96.2	95	344	121		064032006667
224	Newport Coast Elementary	Public	K-6	6655 Ridge Park Rd.	Newport Beach	92657	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6975	429	22	19.4	19.1%	237 (55.2%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.2%)	101 (23.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	59 (13.8%)	$23,813			$1,518			$22,295	96.2	96.6	202	22		062724008544
225	Kentwood Elementary	Public	K-5	8401 Emerson Ave.	Los Angeles	90045	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 670-8977	352	16	22	30.4%	125 (35.5%)	52 (14.8%)	80 (22.7%)	9 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (24.4%)	$25,622			$4,020			$21,602	96.2	85.3	940	715		062271003114
226	Alamo Elementary	Public	K-5	100 Wilson Rd.	Alamo	94507	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 855-4800	348	16	21.9	3.7%	178 (51.1%)	1 (0.3%)	45 (12.9%)	73 (21.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (14.7%)	$15,105			$165			$14,940	96.2	91.6	599	373		063513005942
227	Donner Trail Elementary	Public	K-5	52755 Donner Pass Rd.	Truckee	96161	Nevada County	Tahoe-Truckee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 582-2720	55	4	13.7	5.5%	52 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	$36,602			$312			$36,290	96.2	95.7	289	62		063877006512
228	Vista Verde	Public	K-8	6 Federation Way	Irvine	92603	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6350	837	30	27.6	10.3%	351 (41.9%)	2 (0.2%)	73 (8.7%)	306 (36.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (12.3%)	$13,926			$350			$13,576	96.2	96.7	192	36		068450007070
229	Vista Grande Elementary	Public	K-5	7032 Purpleridge Dr.	Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 377-6066	355	16	22.1	11.0%	68 (19.2%)	4 (1.1%)	41 (11.5%)	196 (55.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (13.0%)	$16,394			$489			$15,905	96.1	96.5	210	19		062970004625
230	Lawton Alternative	Public	K-8	1570 31st Ave.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2832	600	29	21	57.8%	28 (4.7%)	11 (1.8%)	28 (4.7%)	454 (75.7%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	74 (12.3%)	$23,436			$1,655			$21,781	96.1	96.4	222	8		063441005639

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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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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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