Hillside Elementary vs Third Street Elementary

Third Street Elementary ranks #8 of 9,533 California elementary schools, placing it in the top 0.1% statewide. Hillside Elementary, while still a strong performer at #219 of 9,533, sits 211 positions behind. The overall rating gap is 0.6 points, with Third Street Elementary scoring 9.6/10 against Hillside Elementary's 9.0/10 — a meaningful spread when comparing two schools in the same city serving the same grade band.

The academic score gap is the sharpest difference between these two schools. Third Street Elementary scores a perfect 10.0/10 in academics versus Hillside Elementary's 7.0/10 — a 3-point delta that reflects a substantial difference in measured proficiency outcomes. Growth scores, by contrast, are nearly identical: Hillside Elementary earns 9.8/10 and Third Street Elementary earns 9.9/10, suggesting both schools are highly effective at moving students forward regardless of where they start. Parents weighing raw achievement against growth trajectory will find Third Street Elementary wins on both, though Hillside Elementary's growth score nearly matches it.

The demographic and structural differences between these schools are significant. Hillside Elementary enrolls 101 students; Third Street Elementary enrolls 691 — nearly seven times larger. The free and reduced-price lunch rate at Hillside Elementary is 91%, compared to 43% at Third Street Elementary, indicating substantially different socioeconomic compositions. The student-teacher ratio also diverges sharply: Hillside Elementary offers 14.4 students per teacher versus 22.3 at Third Street Elementary, meaning Hillside Elementary students receive considerably more individual adult attention despite the school serving a higher-need population.

Both Hillside Elementary and Third Street Elementary serve grades KG through 05 and sit 7.1 miles apart within Los Angeles. That geographic separation places them in meaningfully different neighborhoods, and the enrollment and FRL gaps reflect those distinctions. Families for whom classroom intimacy and lower student-to-teacher ratios are priorities will find Hillside Elementary's structure compelling, even as Third Street Elementary's elite statewide academic ranking makes it one of the highest-performing elementary schools in California.