Teresa Hughes Elementary vs Jaime Escalante Elementary

Teresa Hughes Elementary and Jaime Escalante Elementary sit 0.3 miles apart in Cudahy, California, serving the same KG–06 grade span — but they are not identical performers. Jaime Escalante Elementary ranks #239 of 9,533 California schools, while Teresa Hughes Elementary ranks #292 of 9,533, placing both in the top 4% statewide. The overall rating gap is narrow — 9.1/10 for Jaime Escalante Elementary versus 9.0/10 for Teresa Hughes Elementary — but the underlying category scores reveal more meaningful differences worth examining.

Academically, Jaime Escalante Elementary pulls ahead by a clear margin: an 8.9/10 academic score against Teresa Hughes Elementary's 8.2/10, a 0.7-point gap that reflects a concrete difference in tested proficiency. On growth — measuring how much students improve year over year regardless of starting point — both schools perform at an exceptional level, with Jaime Escalante Elementary scoring 9.9/10 and Teresa Hughes Elementary at 9.7/10. That 0.2-point growth difference is negligible; both schools demonstrate that students are advancing rapidly relative to peers statewide.

Teresa Hughes Elementary enrolls 538 students compared to Jaime Escalante Elementary's 492, a modest 46-student difference at similar scales. The more striking gap is in student-teacher ratio: Teresa Hughes Elementary comes in at 19.2 students per teacher versus Jaime Escalante Elementary's 23.4:1 — four additional students per classroom on average. Both schools serve deeply low-income populations, with Teresa Hughes Elementary at 97% free and reduced-price lunch eligibility and Jaime Escalante Elementary at 92%. That five-point difference suggests Teresa Hughes Elementary's population faces marginally higher economic barriers, which makes its strong growth score particularly notable.

Both schools share the same grade configuration (KG–06) and geographic footprint within Cudahy. The primary distinctions come down to academic proficiency versus classroom density: Jaime Escalante Elementary leads on raw academic outcomes, while Teresa Hughes Elementary offers a lower student-teacher ratio that translates to more individualized attention per student. Families prioritizing tested academic performance will find Jaime Escalante Elementary's edge meaningful; those who value smaller class sizes will find Teresa Hughes Elementary the more favorable environment.