Canfield Avenue Elementary vs Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy

Canfield Avenue Elementary holds a 0.9-point overall rating advantage over Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy — 9.4 versus 8.5 out of 10 — and that gap widens considerably when you look at state context. Canfield Avenue Elementary ranks #63 out of 9,533 California schools, placing it in the top 1% statewide. Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy ranks #829 of 9,533, which still puts it in the top 9% — a strong school by any measure, but trailing Canfield by 766 positions in the state standings.

The academic score delta drives most of that difference. Canfield Avenue Elementary scores 9.7 out of 10 on academics versus 7.6 out of 10 for Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy — a 2.1-point gap that reflects meaningfully higher tested proficiency levels at Canfield. Growth scores tell a different story: both schools are near the top, with Canfield at 9.8 and Sally Ride at 9.5. Students at both schools are advancing at an above-average pace relative to similar peers statewide, regardless of where they start.

The demographic picture separates these two schools sharply. Sally Ride Elementary: A SMArT Academy serves 378 students with 93% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch — a high-need population the school is clearly moving forward given its 9.5 growth score. Canfield Avenue Elementary enrolls 296 students with 49% on free or reduced lunch. Student-teacher ratios are close but favor Canfield: 21.1 students per teacher versus 22.2 at Sally Ride, a difference of just over one student per classroom on average.

Both schools serve grades KG through 05 and sit 8.3 miles apart in Los Angeles. Sally Ride Elementary carries the SMArT Academy designation, signaling a structured focus on science, math, and technology as an explicit school-wide identity. Canfield Avenue Elementary does not carry a magnet or academy label in the data provided. For families weighing proximity and program identity against raw academic standing, that distinction — combined with Sally Ride's 9.5 growth score despite serving a predominantly high-need population — is the most meaningful program-level difference between the two.