Atwater Avenue Elementary vs Third Street Elementary

Third Street Elementary holds a significant edge in state standing over Atwater Avenue Elementary despite the two schools sitting just 5.5 miles apart in Los Angeles. Third Street Elementary ranks #8 of 9,533 California schools, placing it in the top 0.1% statewide. Atwater Avenue Elementary ranks #164 of 9,533 — an impressive result in its own right, landing in the top 2%, but 156 positions behind its crosstown counterpart. On the overall composite, Third Street Elementary scores 9.6/10 against Atwater Avenue Elementary's 9.1/10 — a half-point gap that reflects a meaningful academic difference at the top of the ratings scale.

The academic score delta is the sharpest contrast between these two schools. Third Street Elementary earns a perfect 10.0/10 academic score while Atwater Avenue Elementary posts a 7.7/10 — a 2.3-point gap that represents the largest difference across any scored category. Growth tells a different story: both schools are near-identical, with Atwater Avenue Elementary at 9.8/10 and Third Street Elementary at 9.9/10. That convergence signals that students at both campuses advance at an exceptional rate year-over-year, regardless of where they start.

Demographically, the two schools serve notably different populations. Atwater Avenue Elementary enrolls 317 students with 56% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a higher-need community. Third Street Elementary serves 691 students — more than twice the enrollment — with a 43% free/reduced lunch rate. The student-teacher ratio diverges considerably: Atwater Avenue Elementary averages 17.6 students per teacher versus 22.3:1 at Third Street Elementary, giving Atwater Avenue families meaningfully more individual adult attention per child.

One structural difference shapes long-term planning for families: Atwater Avenue Elementary runs kindergarten through sixth grade, keeping students on campus a full year longer than Third Street Elementary, which serves kindergarten through fifth grade only. Families at Third Street Elementary will need to navigate a middle school transition one year earlier than those at Atwater Avenue Elementary.