Mar Vista Elementary vs Multnomah Street Elementary

Mar Vista Elementary ranks #288 of 9,533 California schools while Multnomah Street Elementary sits at #20 of 9,533 — a dramatic difference in statewide standing despite these two Los Angeles elementary schools being only 14.3 miles apart. Multnomah Street Elementary's overall rating of 9.5 out of 10 edges Mar Vista Elementary's 8.9 out of 10 by 0.6 points, a gap driven almost entirely by growth rather than raw academic achievement.

Both schools post identical academic scores of 9.3 out of 10, meaning students at each campus reach comparable proficiency levels on state assessments. Where the two schools diverge sharply is student academic growth: Multnomah Street Elementary scores 9.8 out of 10 on growth versus Mar Vista Elementary's 9.0 out of 10. That 0.8-point delta reflects how much progress students make year-over-year relative to academically similar peers — Multnomah Street Elementary is accelerating students at a measurably faster rate regardless of where they started.

The demographic profiles of these two schools are strikingly different. Mar Vista Elementary enrolls 584 students with only 13% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, signaling a relatively affluent student body. Multnomah Street Elementary serves 336 students with 71% on free or reduced-price lunch — a 58-percentage-point gap indicating a substantially higher-need population. Against that backdrop, Multnomah Street Elementary's superior growth score is even more notable: the school is producing exceptional academic trajectories with a higher-poverty student population. Multnomah Street Elementary also carries a lower student-teacher ratio of 19.8:1 compared to Mar Vista Elementary's 21.6:1, meaning roughly two fewer students per teacher on average.

Both Mar Vista Elementary and Multnomah Street Elementary serve grades KG through 05, so families with children in any elementary grade will find complete coverage at either campus. The structural difference is class size and community composition — Mar Vista Elementary's larger enrollment and higher ratio give it a more traditional large-school feel, while Multnomah Street Elementary's smaller campus pairs tighter staffing with a student body that is socioeconomically diverse by Los Angeles standards.