These Are The 25 Best Elementary Schools In CA: U.S. News

Buckeye Union Mandarin Immersion Charter in El Dorado Hills is the best public elementary school in California, according to a new ranking Tuesday from U.S. News & World Report.

U.S. News researchers based the 2027 ranking of the nation's best public elementary schools on the latest publicly available data from state education agencies by RTI International, alongside data from the U.S. Department of Education. In the past, the state reports weren’t part of the methodology.

The data from the state agencies provides a more comprehensive assessment of student performance in reading and mathematics across all proficiency levels while continuing to account for student background and absolute performance on state assessments.

"By incorporating direct state data across all proficiency levels, the 2027 rankings offer a richer, more complete picture of how elementary and middle schools are driving student growth," Eric Brooks, U.S. News director of education data analysis, said in a news release.

Elementary schools are those offering either pre-K-5 or pre-K-6 education. For schools that have a wider grade span, only tests through fifth grade were considered. The report includes 46,000 public elementary schools ranked at the state and district levels. Charter schools are a stand-alone category.

The top 25 public elementary schools in California are:

1. Buckeye Union Mandarin Immersion Charter, El Dorado Hills
2. Cold Spring Elementary, Santa Barbara
3. Murdock-Portal Elementary, San Jose
4. William Faria Elementary, Cupertino
5. North Star Academy, Redwood City
6. Herbert Hoover Elementary, Palo Alto
7. Covington Elementary, Los Altos
8. Bullis Charter, Los Altos
9. Elkhorn, Stockton
10. Jack L. Weaver Elementary, Los Alamitos
11. Beach Elementary, Piedmont
12. John Muir Elementary, San Jose
13. Golden Elementary, Placentia
14. Stevenson Elementary, Mountain View
15. Balboa Gifted/High Ability Magnet Elementary, Northridge
16. Central Elementary, Belmont
17. Palm Crest Elementary, La Canada
18. Wonderland Avenue Elementary, Los Angeles
19. Argonaut Elementary, Saratoga
20. Millikin Elementary, Santa Clara
21. Yu Ming Charter, Oakland
22. Springer Elementary, Mountain View
23. Cornerstone at Pedregal Elementary, Rancho Palos Verdes
24. Lucille M. Nixon Elementary, Stanford
25. Valentine Elementary, San Marino