Muir (John) Elementary vs King (Thomas Starr) Elementary

King (Thomas Starr) Elementary outranks Muir (John) Elementary by 0.9 overall rating points — 9.3 versus 8.4 out of 10 — and that gap becomes starker in state context. King (Thomas Starr) Elementary sits at #123 of 9,533 California schools, placing it in the top 1.3% statewide, while Muir (John) Elementary ranks #1001 of 9,533, still a strong top-11% finish but a meaningful step down from its San Francisco neighbor just 2.2 miles away.

Academically, the two schools are closer than the overall gap suggests. Muir (John) Elementary actually edges King (Thomas Starr) Elementary on the academic score — 9.2 versus 8.9 out of 10 — meaning proficiency on tested subjects is slightly higher at Muir. Where King (Thomas Starr) Elementary separates itself is growth: a 9.5 growth score against Muir (John) Elementary's 8.4, a 1.1-point delta indicating that King is accelerating student achievement at a notably faster pace relative to starting points. For families weighing raw attainment against year-over-year progress, these two numbers pull in opposite directions.

The demographic and resource picture differs substantially. Muir (John) Elementary serves 226 students with 76% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch; King (Thomas Starr) Elementary enrolls 335 students with 40% on free or reduced-price lunch. That 36-percentage-point FRL gap signals very different socioeconomic compositions. On staffing, King (Thomas Starr) Elementary holds a modest edge at a 16.8:1 student-teacher ratio versus Muir (John) Elementary's 18.8:1 — two additional students per teacher on average, which compounds across a classroom.

Both schools cover grades KG through 05, so neither offers a structural advantage in grade span. The core distinction is in what each school optimizes: Muir (John) Elementary delivers slightly higher tested proficiency and serves a higher-need population; King (Thomas Starr) Elementary pairs a top-125 state rank with the strongest growth score of the two.