Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom vs Ashland Elementary

Ashland Elementary ranks #15 of 2002 Arizona schools while Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom sits at #49 of 2002 — a meaningful 34-position gap despite both schools earning strong overall ratings. Ashland's 9.3/10 overall edges Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom's 9.0/10 by 0.3 points, a difference driven primarily by growth performance rather than raw academic output.

On academic scores, the two schools are nearly identical: Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom scores 9.7/10 versus Ashland Elementary's 9.6/10, a difference of just 0.1 points. The divergence opens up sharply on growth, where Ashland Elementary scores 9.5/10 against Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom's 8.7/10 — a 0.8-point gap indicating that Ashland students make measurably faster academic progress relative to expectations regardless of where they start.

Ashland Elementary enrolls 758 students compared to Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom's 626, yet Ashland achieves a tighter student-teacher ratio of 15.5:1 versus 17.4:1 at Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom. That means Ashland classrooms average roughly two fewer students per teacher despite serving a larger total population, which likely contributes to the superior growth outcomes. Both schools serve grades PK–06 and sit 5.6 miles apart in Gilbert, Arizona, making them direct practical alternatives for most families in the area.

Both schools operate the same grade band — PK through sixth grade — so transitions and program availability are structurally equivalent. The primary distinction is Chandler Traditional Academy-Freedom's traditional academic model, which produces near-ceiling academic scores, versus Ashland Elementary's edge in accelerating student growth combined with smaller class sizes. Families weighing entry-level academic rigor against demonstrated year-over-year improvement will find the contrast between these two otherwise high-performing schools comes down to that growth gap and the teacher-to-student ratio advantage Ashland holds.