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Top 10 Elementary Schools in Santa Cruz, California

The highest-scoring elementary schools in Santa Cruz based on our 6-dimension composite analysis of 2025 CAASPP data (state average: 45.5).

What separates the top from the rest: The top 3 schools average 38.1% Exceeded Standard, compared to 23.0% for the bottom 3 on this list. The exceeded rate — not just the met rate — is the clearest differentiator between good and great schools.

# School County Score Exceeded Met+ Absent Susp.
1 Happy Valley Elementary
Happy Valley Elementary
 Santa Cruz 64.8 41.7% 81.9% 18.7% 0.9%
2 Westlake Elementary
Santa Cruz City Elementary
 Santa Cruz 62.5 41.5% 65.5% 15.6% 0.4%
3 Santa Cruz City Elementary Alternative Education-M
Santa Cruz City Elementary
 Santa Cruz 58.0 31.0% 57.1% 17.9% 0.0%
4 Brook Knoll Elementary
Scotts Valley Unified
 Santa Cruz 56.9 37.1% 69.0% 14.9% 0.8%
5 De Laveaga Elementary
Santa Cruz City Elementary
 Santa Cruz 53.3 25.4% 51.7% 10.5% 0.0%
6 Alternative Family Education
Santa Cruz City High
 Santa Cruz 53.3 21.6% 50.8% 6.3% 0.0%
7 Ocean Alternative Education Center
Live Oak Elementary
 Santa Cruz 50.8 17.1% 44.3% 1.1% 0.0%
8 Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary
Soquel Union Elementary
 Santa Cruz 49.5 20.0% 43.0% 10.2% 0.4%
9 Bay View Elementary
Santa Cruz City Elementary
 Santa Cruz 47.5 26.9% 50.6% 16.8% 2.4%
10 Gault Elementary
Santa Cruz City Elementary
 Santa Cruz 46.5 22.2% 43.2% 8.3% 0.6%

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