Raymond Avenue Elementary vs Third Street Elementary

Raymond Avenue Elementary and Third Street Elementary sit 7.2 miles apart in Los Angeles, but their positions in California's school rankings could not be further apart. Third Street Elementary holds the #8 spot out of 9,533 California schools, while Raymond Avenue Elementary ranks #548 — a strong standing in its own right, but a gap of 540 positions separates them. On the 10-point composite scale, Third Street Elementary scores 9.6 against Raymond Avenue Elementary's 8.6, a one-point difference that compresses a much wider performance story underneath it.

The sharpest divergence sits in academic proficiency. Third Street Elementary scores a perfect 10.0 on the academic measure; Raymond Avenue Elementary scores 7.0 — a three-point gap that drives the overall rating difference almost entirely on its own. Growth scores, by contrast, are nearly identical: Raymond Avenue Elementary posts a 9.6 and Third Street Elementary a 9.9. That tight growth comparison tells an important story — students at Raymond Avenue Elementary are making strong year-over-year gains even against a proficiency baseline that starts lower, suggesting effective classroom instruction rather than coasting on incoming advantage.

The demographic picture explains much of the academic gap. At Raymond Avenue Elementary, 92% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, compared to 43% at Third Street Elementary. Raymond Avenue Elementary also enrolls 465 students versus Third Street Elementary's 691, and its student-teacher ratio is slightly more favorable — 21.1 students per teacher compared to Third Street Elementary's 22.3. That means Raymond Avenue Elementary is delivering its near-identical growth rate with a higher-need population and marginally more individualized attention per student.

Both schools serve grades kindergarten through 5, so families are comparing like structures across identical grade spans. The distinction lies in context and outcome: Third Street Elementary reaches the pinnacle of California elementary performance in absolute proficiency terms, while Raymond Avenue Elementary converts high-need enrollment into growth scores that rival the state's best. These are meaningfully different educational environments producing results through different mechanisms.