Micheltorena Street Elementary vs Clifford Street Elementary Math & Technology Magnet

Micheltorena Street Elementary outranks Clifford Street Elementary Math & Technology Magnet by a meaningful margin in California's statewide standings: #109 versus #350 out of 9,533 schools, giving Micheltorena a top 1.2% position compared to Clifford Street's top 3.7%. That gap translates to an overall rating difference of 0.4 points — Micheltorena at 9.3/10 and Clifford Street at 8.9/10 — but the two schools diverge sharply once you look beneath that headline number at how they achieve their results.

On raw academic proficiency, Clifford Street Elementary Math & Technology Magnet holds the advantage with a 9.1/10 academic score versus Micheltorena Street Elementary's 8.4/10 — a 0.7-point gap that reflects stronger current test performance. The growth picture flips decisively: Micheltorena scores a 9.8/10 on student growth compared to Clifford Street's 8.5/10, a 1.3-point difference indicating that Micheltorena is accelerating students at a substantially faster rate relative to academic peers. Families weighing where a child starts versus how fast they'll move should treat that 1.3-point growth gap as a material differentiator.

Clifford Street Elementary Math & Technology Magnet enrolls 131 students against Micheltorena Street Elementary's 366, making Clifford Street roughly one-third the size. That smaller enrollment comes with a slightly lower student-teacher ratio: 18.7:1 at Clifford Street versus 20.3:1 at Micheltorena. Clifford Street also serves a higher share of economically disadvantaged students, with 53% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch compared to 42% at Micheltorena — a factor worth weighing when evaluating each school's academic scores in context.

Both schools serve grades KG–05 and sit just 1.0 mile apart in Los Angeles. Clifford Street's identity as a Math & Technology Magnet is the sharpest structural difference: it operates a themed program with a specific admissions pathway, drawing a smaller, self-selected cohort. Micheltorena functions as a traditional neighborhood elementary with a much larger student body, and its #109 statewide rank signals consistently high performance across the full range of students it serves.