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
631	Theodore Judah Elementary	Public	K-5	101 Dean Way	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9175	600	28	21.4	32.3%	154 (25.7%)	12 (2.0%)	106 (17.7%)	260 (43.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	64 (10.7%)	$18,152			$983			$17,169	90.4	89.5	725	94		061389001572
632	Buena Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	1330 Buena Vista Way	Carlsbad	92008	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-5400	281	12	23.4	39.9%	139 (49.5%)	4 (1.4%)	97 (34.5%)	12 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.0%)	$21,243			$1,524			$19,719	90.4	91.4	610	22		060750000708
633	Don Juan Avila Elementary	Public	K-5	26278 Wood Canyon Dr.	Aliso Viejo	92656	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 349-9452	672	25	26.8	26.2%	313 (46.6%)	1 (0.1%)	104 (15.5%)	135 (20.1%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	114 (17.0%)	$17,416			$1,233			$16,183	90.4	91.5	603	30		060744008537
634	Carver Elementary	Public	K-5	5335 East Pavo St.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 420-2697	562	21	26.7	28.3%	178 (31.7%)	43 (7.7%)	183 (32.6%)	89 (15.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	67 (11.9%)	$17,750			$3,496			$14,254	90.4	90.9	644	10		062250002706
635	Peralta Elementary	Public	K-5	460 63rd St.	Oakland	94609	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3145	355	12	30.8	30.4%	145 (40.8%)	29 (8.2%)	51 (14.4%)	30 (8.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (27.6%)	$23,556			$4,243			$19,313	90.4	89.8	714	79		062805004307
636	Topeka Charter School For Advanced Studies	Public, Charter	K-5	9815 Topeka Dr.	Northridge	91324	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 886-2266	610	27	22.5	44.1%	175 (28.7%)	20 (3.3%)	223 (36.6%)	105 (17.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	85 (13.9%)	$20,309			$2,982			$17,327	90.4	85.7	921	285		062271003402
637	Meadows Elementary	Public	K-5	1101 Helen Dr.	Millbrae	94030	San Mateo County	Millbrae Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 583-7590	360	16	22.4	14.7%	57 (15.8%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (12.2%)	218 (60.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)	34 (9.4%)	$16,323			$1,586			$14,737	90.4	95.2	324	313		062490003719
638	Brookside Elementary	Public	K-5	116 Butterfield Rd.	San Anselmo	94960	Marin County	Ross Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 453-2948	278	14	19.5	10.4%	203 (73.0%)	2 (0.7%)	40 (14.4%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.1%)	$16,922			$593			$16,329	90.3	91.1	629	9		060000608775
639	Carrillo Elementary	Public	K-5	2875 Poinsettia Ln.	Carlsbad	92009	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2900	725	29	25	22.6%	384 (53.0%)	6 (0.8%)	174 (24.0%)	77 (10.6%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (11.2%)	$16,375			$1,166			$15,209	90.3	84.5	972	333		063488008314
640	Falcon Academy of Science and Technology	Public	K-6	650 North Apricot Ave.	Brea	92821	Orange County	Brea-Olinda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 529-3908	544	21	25.9	35.3%	91 (16.7%)	8 (1.5%)	198 (36.4%)	191 (35.1%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	50 (9.2%)	$21,626			$1,236			$20,390	90.3	92	576	64		060588000533

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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