Best Elementary Schools in California for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in California!

Every year, the California Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

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 (African American vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 569)	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	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	Camarena (Enrique S.) Elementary	Public	K-6	1650 Exploration Falls Dr.	Chula Vista	91915	San Diego County	Chula Vista Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 591-5500	889	40	22.2	37.8%	84 (9.4%)	75 (8.4%)	460 (51.7%)	169 (19.0%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.6%)	95 (10.7%)	$15,780			$1,496			$14,284	99.8%	83.9%	15.89%			060861013096
2	Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter	Public, Charter	K-5	830 North La Brea Ave.	Inglewood	90302	Los Angeles County	Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 671-5578	426	11	38.4	72.1%	5 (1.2%)	345 (81.0%)	62 (14.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	$16,659			$1,962			$14,697	99.6%	86.2%	13.43%			060244911296
3	Manchester Gate	Public	2-6	2307 East Dakota Ave.	Fresno	93726	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7220	684	24	28.1	73.4%	86 (12.6%)	44 (6.4%)	421 (61.5%)	95 (13.9%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	33 (4.8%)	$14,722			$1,602			$13,120	99.5%	92.5%	7.00%			061455008843
4	Triple Crown Elementary	Public	K-5	530 Orange Ave.	Perris	92571	Riverside County	Val Verde Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 490-0440	971	35	27.3	85.1%	17 (1.8%)	54 (5.6%)	868 (89.4%)	18 (1.9%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.2%)	$18,297			$837			$17,460	99.3%	63.6%	35.70%			069113511724
5	Prisk Elementary	Public	K-5	2375 Fanwood Ave.	Long Beach	90815	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 598-9601	469	18	26.8	27.3%	128 (27.3%)	30 (6.4%)	189 (40.3%)	49 (10.4%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	69 (14.7%)	$20,898			$3,617			$17,281	99.1%	93.7%	5.46%			062250002752
6	One Hundred Fifty-Sixth Street Elementary	Public	K-6	2100 West 156th St.	Gardena	90249	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 324-6639	353	17	20.7	68.0%	26 (7.4%)	98 (27.8%)	146 (41.4%)	39 (11.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (12.5%)	$22,454			$3,563			$18,891	98.9%	85.8%	13.12%			062271003241
7	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	98.8%	79.2%	19.58%			064212010141
8	Aviation Elementary	Public	3-5	5403 West 138th St.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Wiseburn Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 725-2151	439	16	27.8	29.8%	90 (20.5%)	29 (6.6%)	240 (54.7%)	36 (8.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	39 (8.9%)								98.6%	80.2%	18.35%			060142807146
9	Montclair Elementary	Public	K-5	1757 Mountain Blvd.	Oakland	94611	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3143	547	24	22.7	35.5%	165 (30.2%)	63 (11.5%)	123 (22.5%)	64 (11.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	129 (23.6%)	$23,792			$3,534			$20,258	98.4%	85.1%	13.31%			062805004302
10	Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Academy	Public	K-8	200 Phillips Dr.	Sausalito	94965	Marin County	Sausalito Marin City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 332-1024	262	19	14.1	53.4%	74 (28.2%)	73 (27.9%)	61 (23.3%)	21 (8.0%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (11.5%)	$51,216			$6,495			$44,721	98.2%	68.9%	29.37%			063600006162

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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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.