Christopher Dena Elementary vs Multnomah Street Elementary

Multnomah Street Elementary and Christopher Dena Elementary sit 3.4 miles apart in Los Angeles, but their state rankings tell a sharply different story. Multnomah Street Elementary ranks #20 of 9,533 schools in California, placing it in the top 0.2% statewide. Christopher Dena Elementary ranks #279 of 9,533 — still a strong top-3% performance, but trailing Multnomah Street by 259 positions. On the 10-point composite scale, Multnomah Street Elementary scores 9.5 against Christopher Dena Elementary's 8.9, a 0.6-point gap that reflects a meaningful real-world difference at these rating levels.

Academically, Multnomah Street Elementary scores 9.3/10 versus Christopher Dena Elementary's 7.6/10 — a 1.7-point difference that represents the clearest separation between the two schools. Both schools demonstrate strong growth, with Multnomah Street Elementary at 9.8/10 and Christopher Dena Elementary at 9.5/10, a near-dead-heat that indicates both schools are effectively moving students forward relative to their starting points regardless of incoming achievement level. The academic gap, not growth, is where the two schools diverge most.

The demographic profiles differ in ways that matter for context. Christopher Dena Elementary enrolls 337 students with 94% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, compared to Multnomah Street Elementary's 336 students at 71% FRL. Christopher Dena Elementary's substantially higher rate of economic need makes its 9.5 growth score particularly notable — the school is producing strong academic progress within a high-poverty population. On classroom density, Christopher Dena Elementary carries a student-teacher ratio of 17.7:1 versus Multnomah Street Elementary's 19.8:1, giving Christopher Dena a meaningful two-student-per-teacher advantage in potential individual attention.

Both schools serve kindergarten through sixth grade — with one exception: Multnomah Street Elementary stops at fifth grade, meaning Christopher Dena Elementary covers one additional year on-site before middle school. Enrollment at both schools is nearly identical at roughly 336–337 students, making campus size a non-factor in the comparison.