Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary vs Multnomah Street Elementary

Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary and Multnomah Street Elementary sit just 10.1 miles apart in Los Angeles, yet parents choosing between them will find meaningful differences beneath their near-identical overall ratings. Both schools score 9.5/10 overall, but their state ranks tell a precise story: Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary ranks #18 of 9,533 schools in California while Multnomah Street Elementary ranks #20 of 9,533 — two positions separating two genuinely elite elementary schools.

The academic and growth scores diverge in opposite directions, which reveals distinct strengths. Multnomah Street Elementary holds the academic edge at 9.3/10 versus Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary's 8.7/10 — a 0.6-point gap that reflects higher current proficiency levels. Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary, however, earns a perfect 10.0/10 growth score against Multnomah's 9.8/10, meaning students at Fifty-Fourth are advancing at the fastest measurable rate relative to peers statewide. A family weighing where kids currently test against how fast they'll improve will find a real trade-off here.

On demographics and classroom structure, the two schools differ substantially. Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary enrolls 232 students compared to Multnomah Street Elementary's 336, and the student-teacher ratio at Fifty-Fourth is 17.8:1 versus 19.8:1 at Multnomah — two fewer students per teacher on average. The free and reduced-price lunch rates are also divergent: 94% at Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary versus 71% at Multnomah Street Elementary, indicating that Fifty-Fourth serves a higher concentration of lower-income families and is achieving its near-top state ranking within a considerably higher-need population.

Grade span is the one structural distinction parents must account for: Fifty-Fourth Street Elementary covers kindergarten through sixth grade, giving families a full elementary arc under one roof, while Multnomah Street Elementary runs kindergarten through fifth grade only, requiring a school transition one year earlier. Both schools are in Los Angeles Unified, so middle school planning will differ depending on which campus a child attends.