Parker (Jean) Elementary vs Sutro Elementary

Parker (Jean) Elementary and Sutro Elementary sit just 3.4 miles apart in San Francisco, and their overall ratings are nearly identical — Parker at 9.5/10 versus Sutro at 9.4/10, a difference of just 0.1 points. State rank tells a similar story: Parker (Jean) Elementary ranks #30 of 9,533 schools in California, while Sutro Elementary ranks #50 of 9,533. Both are exceptional performers in an enormous statewide field, and either would place a child among California's top-tier elementary programs.

The two schools diverge more sharply when broken down by academic and growth components. Sutro Elementary holds a 0.5-point edge in academic score — 9.7/10 versus Parker (Jean) Elementary's 9.2/10 — suggesting higher current proficiency levels on state assessments. Growth scores are dead even: both schools score 9.7/10, meaning students at each school gain ground at the same exceptional rate relative to comparable peers. The academic gap favors Sutro, but Parker closes it at the overall level through other factors in the composite rating.

On demographics and classroom structure, the schools differ in ways that matter to many families. Parker (Jean) Elementary serves 125 students, roughly half the size of Sutro Elementary's 248-student enrollment. That smaller footprint produces a measurably lower student-teacher ratio: 17.9:1 at Parker compared to 22.5:1 at Sutro — nearly five fewer students per teacher on average. Parker also serves a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged students, with 80% of its population qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch versus 64% at Sutro Elementary. This reflects a more economically diverse community and signals that Parker's near-perfect scores are achieved with a broader socioeconomic mix of students.

Both Parker (Jean) Elementary and Sutro Elementary serve grades KG through 05, so grade range is not a differentiating factor. The meaningful distinctions come down to campus scale, classroom density, and the composition of the student body rather than program structure — two schools covering the same grade span in the same city with near-identical overall ratings but different learning environments on the ground.