Best Elementary Schools in California

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
41	Soleado Elementary	Public	K-5	27800 Longhill Dr.	Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 377-6854	443	20	22.1	13.3%	78 (17.6%)	7 (1.6%)	74 (16.7%)	216 (48.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (15.1%)	$14,468			$489			$13,979	98.3	98.2	64	23		062970004623
42	Carmel Del Mar Elementary	Public	K-6	12345 Carmel Park Dr.	San Diego	92130	San Diego County	Del Mar Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 481-6789	562	25	22.4	10.5%	215 (38.3%)	6 (1.1%)	46 (8.2%)	242 (43.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (9.4%)	$21,136			$387			$20,749	98.3	97.7	96	54		061074001171
43	Teach Elementary	Public	4-6	165 Grand Ave.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4100	193	6	32.1	25.4%	135 (69.9%)	3 (1.6%)	15 (7.8%)	15 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (11.9%)	$15,949			$559			$15,390	98.3	99.1	13	30		063480009192
44	Opal Robinson Elementary	Public	K-5	80 Morningside Dr.	Manhattan Beach	90266	Los Angeles County	Manhattan Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 318-5120	303	13	23.3	4.3%	176 (58.1%)	2 (0.7%)	43 (14.2%)	30 (9.9%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)	49 (16.2%)	$17,703			$1,663			$16,040	98.3	98.1	71	27		060002505922
45	South Hillsborough	Public	K-5	303 El Cerrito Ave.	Hillsborough	94010	San Mateo County	Hillsborough City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 344-0303	244	16	14.9	5.3%	106 (43.4%)	1 (0.4%)	21 (8.6%)	81 (33.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (14.3%)	$29,188			$595			$28,593	98.3	98.7	38	7		061719002174
46	Ohlone Elementary	Public	K-5	950 Amarillo Ave.	Palo Alto	94303	Santa Clara County	Palo Alto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 856-1726	464	21	21.8	8.4%	121 (26.1%)	5 (1.1%)	47 (10.1%)	226 (48.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (14.0%)	$27,283			$947			$26,336	98.3	97.8	94	48		062961004592
47	Monte Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	2620 Orange Ave.	La Crescenta	91214	Los Angeles County	Glendale Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 248-2617	721	27	26.7	32.0%	219 (30.4%)	5 (0.7%)	49 (6.8%)	388 (53.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (8.3%)	$15,383			$567			$14,816	98.3	98.8	35	12		061524001940
48	Orchard Hills	Public	K-8	11555 Culver Dr.	Irvine	92602	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 430-2078	1,373	50	27.5	25.1%	208 (15.1%)	11 (0.8%)	121 (8.8%)	893 (65.0%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	135 (9.8%)	$14,581			$1,347			$13,234	98.3	97.7	102	54		064015012571
49	Santiago Hills Elementary	Public	K-6	29 Christamon West	Irvine	92620	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6000	548	19	28.8	12.4%	84 (15.3%)	2 (0.4%)	38 (6.9%)	367 (67.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (10.0%)	$13,419			$366			$13,053	98.3	98.1	73	24		068450007064
50	Creekside Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1916 Chamonix Pl.	Olympic Valley	96146	Placer County	Creekside Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 581-1036	233	11	21.1	6.9%	181 (77.7%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.7%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (15.9%)	$14,126			$215			$13,911	98.2	97.5	124	74		060151112515

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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