Robert F. Kennedy Elementary vs Third Street Elementary

Third Street Elementary and Robert F. Kennedy Elementary both serve Los Angeles families, but they sit at very different points on California's rating scale. Third Street Elementary ranks #8 of 9,533 schools in California, placing it in a rarified tier at the very top of the state. Robert F. Kennedy Elementary, rated 9.2 out of 10, holds an impressive #115 statewide ranking — strong by any measure, but a meaningful step below Third Street's 9.6 out of 10. The 0.4-point overall gap is driven almost entirely by the academic component.

On academics, the delta is sharp: Robert F. Kennedy Elementary scores 8.0 out of 10 while Third Street Elementary scores a perfect 10.0 out of 10 — a two-full-point gap in the category that carries the most weight in school ratings. Growth scores, by contrast, are nearly identical: Robert F. Kennedy Elementary 9.8 and Third Street Elementary 9.9, meaning both schools are highly effective at advancing students beyond expected trajectories year over year. The divergence is in measured proficiency, not in the quality of instruction students receive once enrolled.

The two schools serve starkly different student populations. Third Street Elementary enrolls 691 students across kindergarten through fifth grade; Robert F. Kennedy Elementary enrolls just 176 students through sixth grade. The student-teacher ratio at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary is 16.0:1, substantially more intimate than Third Street Elementary's 22.3:1. The socioeconomic divide is equally wide: 93% of Robert F. Kennedy Elementary students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, compared to 43% at Third Street Elementary. These numbers reflect different neighborhood contexts nine miles apart within the same city.

Grade span also differs in a practical way: Robert F. Kennedy Elementary covers kindergarten through sixth grade, giving families one more year before the middle school transition. Third Street Elementary tops out at fifth grade, requiring a school change a year earlier. Parents prioritizing extended elementary continuity may weight that extra year heavily when mapping out their child's academic path.