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
5212	Highlands Elementary	Public	K-5	4141 Harbor St.	Pittsburg	94565	Contra Costa County	Pittsburg Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 473-2440	480	21	22.8	76.0%	37 (7.7%)	74 (15.4%)	284 (59.2%)	49 (10.2%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	29 (6.0%)	$19,466			$1,795			$17,671	15.6	14.8	5319	107		063060004748
5213	Railway Elementary	Public	K-6	555 Alpine Dr.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 943-3259	715	30	23.8	82.8%	15 (2.1%)	11 (1.5%)	666 (93.1%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.5%)	$18,242			$2,196			$16,046	15.6	18.9	4946	267		063018011717
5214	Blackford Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	1970 Willow St.	San Jose	95125	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 978-4675	414	19	21.7	57.0%	32 (7.7%)	27 (6.5%)	295 (71.3%)	29 (7.0%)	4 (1.0%)	5 (1.2%)	22 (5.3%)	$20,523			$1,160			$19,363	15.6	20.9	4777	437		060720000657
5215	George Nicoloff Elementary	Public	K-6	1777 Howard Ave.	San Ysidro	92173	San Diego County	South Bay Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 428-1605	616	25	24.6	79.9%	2 (0.3%)	6 (1.0%)	591 (95.9%)	6 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	8 (1.3%)	$20,524			$2,172			$18,352	15.6	14.8	5327	112		063738006322
5216	Irwin Academy of Performing Arts	Public	K-6	14907 South Mojave Dr.	Victorville	92395	San Bernardino County	Victor Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 245-7961	594	24	24.5	94.9%	47 (7.9%)	110 (18.5%)	401 (67.5%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.7%)	26 (4.4%)	$20,729			$3,833			$16,896	15.6	12.4	5527	311		064104006773
5217	Phelan Elementary	Public	K-5	4167 Phelan Rd.	Phelan	92371	San Bernardino County	Snowline Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 868-3252	743	31	23.9	85.1%	146 (19.7%)	17 (2.3%)	533 (71.7%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (5.2%)	$16,816			$2,554			$14,262	15.6	16.3	5188	29		063697007875
5218	Morgan Kincaid Preparatory	Public	K-5	13257 Mesa Linda Ave.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Adelanto Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 956-9006	690	30	23	71.0%	44 (6.4%)	117 (17.0%)	447 (64.8%)	14 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.7%)	62 (9.0%)	$16,419			$1,029			$15,390	15.6	16.2	5199	19		060171010603
5219	Park Elementary	Public	K-6	411 Larchmont St.	Hayward	94540	Alameda County	Hayward Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 723-3875	504	22	22.9	81.2%	13 (2.6%)	38 (7.5%)	341 (67.7%)	69 (13.7%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.4%)	30 (6.0%)	$24,302			$3,502			$20,800	15.6	13.7	5418	199		061674002127
5220	Rosa Parks Elementary	Public	K-5	4510 Landis St.	San Diego	92105	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 282-6803	705	27	26.1	97.6%	12 (1.7%)	48 (6.8%)	536 (76.0%)	97 (13.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	10 (1.4%)	$23,208			$4,452			$18,756	15.6	20.3	4840	380		063432007328
5221	Voices College-Bound Language Academy at Mt. Pleasant	Public, Charter	K-8	14271 Story Rd.	San Jose	95127	Santa Clara County	Voices College-Bound Language Academy at Mt. Pleasant Distr	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 791-1609	235	9	26.1	82.6%	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	230 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$25,876			$2,858			$23,018	15.6	9	5728	507		060206413925

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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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.