Grattan Elementary vs Parker (Jean) Elementary

Grattan Elementary and Parker (Jean) Elementary both serve kindergarten through fifth grade in San Francisco, but they sit in very different positions in the California rankings. Parker (Jean) Elementary ranks #30 of 9,533 California schools, placing it in the top 0.3% statewide. Grattan Elementary ranks #135 of 9,533 — still an exceptional result, but 105 positions behind Parker. Both schools are strong by any objective measure; the question is which fits a given family's priorities.

On academics, Parker (Jean) Elementary holds the edge with a 9.2/10 academic score against Grattan Elementary's 8.7/10 — a half-point delta that reflects meaningful differences in tested proficiency. Growth scores are closer: Parker (Jean) Elementary scores 9.7/10 versus Grattan Elementary's 9.5/10, suggesting both schools are effectively accelerating students from their starting points, with Parker carrying a slight advantage even while serving a more economically disadvantaged population. That context matters — strong growth at Parker (Jean) Elementary comes despite, not because of, demographic tailwinds.

The two schools diverge sharply on enrollment and student-teacher ratio. Grattan Elementary enrolls 384 students at a 20.2:1 student-teacher ratio; Parker (Jean) Elementary enrolls just 125 students at a 17.9:1 ratio, meaning nearly three fewer students per teacher on average. The free and reduced-price lunch rate tells the clearest equity story: 15% of Grattan Elementary students qualify, compared to 80% at Parker (Jean) Elementary. Parker achieves its top-30 state ranking while serving a predominantly low-income student body — a rare combination in California.

Both schools cover the same KG–05 grade span, and at 3.2 miles apart they are realistic alternatives for families in adjacent San Francisco neighborhoods. The overall rating gap is 0.3 points — Parker (Jean) Elementary at 9.5/10 versus Grattan Elementary at 9.2/10 — a narrow margin that matters less than the structural differences in class size and community demographics when matching a school to a specific family's needs.