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
541	Circle View Elementary	Public	K-5	6261 Hooker Dr.	Huntington Beach	92647	Orange County	Ocean View	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 893-5035	582	25	23.2	37.3%	239 (41.1%)	6 (1.0%)	115 (19.8%)	130 (22.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	90 (15.5%)	$17,111			$839			$16,272	92.1	93.1	502	39		062814004328
542	Mariposa Elementary	Public	K-6	1111 West Mariposa Dr.	Brea	92821	Orange County	Brea-Olinda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 529-4916	504	21	24	35.1%	108 (21.4%)	4 (0.8%)	184 (36.5%)	165 (32.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (8.5%)	$20,267			$1,232			$19,035	92.1	88.5	790	248		060588000531
543	Brookhaven Elementary	Public	K-6	1851 North Brookhaven Ave.	Placentia	92870	Orange County	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 986-7110	482	23	20.9	27.4%	168 (34.9%)	11 (2.3%)	164 (34.0%)	116 (24.1%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (4.4%)	$17,900			$897			$17,003	92.1	95.4	310	233		063066004755
544	Heritage Elementary	Public	K-5	15400 Lansdowne Rd.	Tustin	92782	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2066	567	21	27	32.5%	112 (19.8%)	5 (0.9%)	115 (20.3%)	261 (46.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	70 (12.3%)	$15,435			$1,711			$13,724	92	88.8	764	220		064015014003
545	Hammer Montessori at Galarza Elementary	Public	K-5	1610 Bird Ave.	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6671	309	13	23.7	20.1%	90 (29.1%)	14 (4.5%)	88 (28.5%)	62 (20.1%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (17.2%)	$18,463			$730			$17,733	92	89.1	743	198		063459007429
546	Brewer Island Elementary	Public	K-5	1151 Polynesia Dr.	Foster City	94404	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7532	306	14	21.8	18.6%	41 (13.4%)	4 (1.3%)	62 (20.3%)	154 (50.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	42 (13.7%)	$21,199			$1,549			$19,650	92	93.6	464	82		063492005404
547	Alta Vista Elementary	Public	K-5	815 Knob Hill Ave.	Redondo Beach	90277	Los Angeles County	Redondo Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 798-8650	547	23	24	13.5%	240 (43.9%)	12 (2.2%)	126 (23.0%)	80 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	89 (16.3%)	$15,484			$1,051			$14,433	92	94.1	422	125		060003204950
548	Fairlands Elementary	Public	K-5	4151 West Las Positas Blvd.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4210	670	26	25.7	10.6%	83 (12.4%)	9 (1.3%)	51 (7.6%)	485 (72.4%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.5%)	$16,326			$254			$16,072	92	95.2	325	223		060002009286
549	Cherrywood Elementary	Public	K-5	2550 Greengate Dr.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1915	529	23	23	24.2%	15 (2.8%)	2 (0.4%)	104 (19.7%)	371 (70.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	35 (6.6%)	$16,898			$972			$15,926	92	89.3	732	183		060480000458
550	Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	2175 Wisteria St.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 520-6750	567	24	23.6	33.3%	219 (38.6%)	4 (0.7%)	158 (27.9%)	154 (27.2%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	27 (4.8%)	$13,765			$1,098			$12,667	92	92.6	529	21		063684006273

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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:

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

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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