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
1211	Chapman Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	170 North Aspen St.	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 532-8043	321	12	27.2	37.1%	124 (38.6%)	3 (0.9%)	114 (35.5%)	43 (13.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (11.5%)	$15,821			$1,182			$14,639	78.6	81.7	1086	125		062865009419
1212	Laurel Street Elementary	Public	K-8	1321 West Laurel St.	Compton	90220	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6440	377	15	25.1	87.5%	1 (0.3%)	53 (14.1%)	316 (83.8%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	$23,158			$4,045			$19,113	78.6	64	1875	663		060962000987
1213	Loma Portal Elementary	Public	K-4	3341 Browning St.	San Diego	92106	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 223-1683	392	15	26.1	30.4%	225 (57.4%)	7 (1.8%)	110 (28.1%)	17 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	30 (7.7%)	$18,353			$2,399			$15,954	78.6	82.9	1040	173		063432005504
1214	Brainard Elementary	Public	K-5	11407 Brainard Ave.	Lake View Terrace	91342	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 899-5241	160	9	17.7	74.4%	19 (11.9%)	15 (9.4%)	117 (73.1%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.0%)	$35,025			$5,804			$29,221	78.6	61.8	1993	779		062271002861
1215	Charles H. Kim Elementary	Public	K-5	225 South Oxford Ave.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 368-5600	483	27	17.8	93.4%	17 (3.5%)	20 (4.1%)	242 (50.1%)	191 (39.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.7%)	$22,646			$5,171			$17,475	78.5	77.8	1253	38		062271011646
1216	River Bluff Elementary	Public	K-6	6150 West Palo Alto	Fresno	93722	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-6001	694	26	26.6	68.2%	100 (14.4%)	42 (6.1%)	338 (48.7%)	182 (26.2%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	27 (3.9%)								78.5	74.5	1387	171		060797010493
1217	Sanger Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2207 Ninth St.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6840	609	29	21.3	69.0%	23 (3.8%)	3 (0.5%)	552 (90.6%)	23 (3.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.0%)	$13,265			$990			$12,275	78.5	69.5	1614	397		063525008475
1218	Tony Tobin Elementary	Public	K-5	45200 Morgan Hill Dr.	Temecula	92592	Riverside County	Temecula Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 294-6355	718	31	23.1	23.1%	317 (44.2%)	24 (3.3%)	197 (27.4%)	83 (11.6%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	92 (12.8%)	$15,662			$950			$14,712	78.5	84.7	961	257		060002811043
1219	Cottonwood Elementary	Public	K-6	2740 West Ave. P-8	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Westside Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 267-2825	652	24	27.1	55.1%	105 (16.1%)	72 (11.0%)	381 (58.4%)	35 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	58 (8.9%)	$13,546			$1,152			$12,394	78.5	71.8	1506	287		064212010141
1220	Alpha: Cornerstone Academy Preparatory	Public, Charter	K-8	1598 Lucretia Ave.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Alpha: Cornerstone Academy Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 361-3876	554	24	23	55.2%	13 (2.3%)	11 (2.0%)	197 (35.6%)	315 (56.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.2%)	$18,840			$1,215			$17,625	78.5	76.7	1304	84		060167112639

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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:

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

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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.