Cortada Elementary vs Rio Vista Elementary

Cortada Elementary and Rio Vista Elementary sit 1.6 miles apart in El Monte, California, and both serve grades KG–06, but their statewide standings diverge sharply. Rio Vista Elementary ranks #95 of 9,533 California schools while Cortada Elementary ranks #202 of 9,533 — a gap that places Rio Vista in the top 1% of the state versus Cortada's top 2%. Overall ratings are close on their face (9.1 vs. 9.3 out of 10 in Rio Vista's favor), but the state rank context tells a more pointed story.

Academically, Rio Vista Elementary leads with an 8.9/10 academic score against Cortada Elementary's 8.2/10 — a 0.7-point difference that reflects a meaningful gap in measured proficiency. Cortada flips the script on growth: its 9.6/10 growth score edges Rio Vista's 9.4/10, indicating that Cortada students are advancing at a slightly faster rate relative to their starting points. Families weighing current achievement levels against upward trajectory will find a genuine trade-off between these two numbers.

Rio Vista Elementary's student-teacher ratio of 15.0:1 is meaningfully smaller than Cortada Elementary's 21.2:1, a 6.2-student difference that translates to more individual attention per student in the classroom. Cortada enrolls 361 students versus Rio Vista's 314, making it the larger campus. On economic disadvantage, 95% of Cortada students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch compared to 80% at Rio Vista — a 15-point gap that reflects the distinct communities each school draws from and is relevant context for interpreting both schools' academic results.

Both schools cover the same grade span — kindergarten through sixth grade — so neither offers a structural advantage in years served. The differences that matter are classroom size, academic proficiency level, and the demographic context behind each school's scores. No extracurricular or program distinctions are available in the data for this comparison.