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
1531	North Terrace Elementary	Public	K-8	141 Santa Rosa Dr.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 901-7500	771	32	24.3	69.5%	266 (34.5%)	45 (5.8%)	333 (43.2%)	20 (2.6%)	9 (1.2%)	8 (1.0%)	90 (11.7%)	$11,152			$1,199			$9,953	71.6	63.4	1913	382		062825004366
1532	Lewis (Ed C.) Elementary	Public	K-5	13220 South Bellflower Blvd.	Downey	90242	Los Angeles County	Downey Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 904-3590	810	35	23.1	76.5%	44 (5.4%)	37 (4.6%)	679 (83.8%)	38 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (1.4%)	$17,115			$1,867			$15,248	71.5	58.9	2112	580		061146010237
1533	Friendly Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	7252 Sunny Vista Rd.	Joshua Tree	92252	San Bernardino County	Morongo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 366-3812	266	12	22.6	62.4%	138 (51.9%)	5 (1.9%)	108 (40.6%)	2 (0.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	10 (3.8%)	$19,143			$2,678			$16,465	71.5	65.7	1785	252		062586009164
1534	Knob Hill Elementary	Public	K-5	1825 Knob Hill Rd.	San Marcos	92069	San Diego County	San Marcos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 290-2080	725	30	23.8	38.6%	252 (34.8%)	0 (0.0%)	338 (46.6%)	71 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	59 (8.1%)	$16,488			$1,306			$15,182	71.5	76.7	1302	232		063488009439
1535	Dunlap Elementary	Public	K-8	39667 Dunlap Rd.	Dunlap	93621	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7310	419	21	19.7	76.8%	182 (43.4%)	0 (0.0%)	178 (42.5%)	13 (3.1%)	10 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (8.6%)	$21,328			$3,393			$17,935	71.5	53.4	2374	839		061970002365
1536	Ellen Feickert Elementary	Public	K-6	9351 Feickert Dr.	Elk Grove	95624	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 686-7716	541	25	21.6	49.7%	155 (28.7%)	34 (6.3%)	183 (33.8%)	98 (18.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	66 (12.2%)	$18,433			$1,923			$16,510	71.4	68.3	1669	133		061233007699
1537	Laneview Elementary	Public	K-5	2095 Warmwood Ln.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1920	349	16	21.8	37.5%	16 (4.6%)	5 (1.4%)	104 (29.8%)	208 (59.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	15 (4.3%)	$16,558			$1,046			$15,512	71.4	67	1729	192		060480000459
1538	Lifeline Education Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	225 South Santa Fe Ave.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Lifeline Education Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 885-1872	698	30	22.9	95.0%	8 (1.1%)	105 (15.0%)	584 (83.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,546			$1,072			$23,474	71.4	67.8	1692	154		060168312119
1539	Cummings Valley Elementary	Public	K-5	24220 Bear Valley Rd. Hc80	Tehachapi	93561	Kern County	Tehachapi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 822-2190	560	21	26.6	39.6%	330 (58.9%)	2 (0.4%)	182 (32.5%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (7.5%)	$14,306			$1,933			$12,373	71.4	60.7	2038	499		063888010110
1540	Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary	Public	K-6	24982 Rivendell Dr.	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 586-2820	517	20	26.2	42.6%	167 (32.3%)	5 (1.0%)	208 (40.2%)	51 (9.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	84 (16.2%)	$17,645			$1,363			$16,282	71.4	72.8	1457	83		063386005313

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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:

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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.