Beach Elementary School vs Woodlawn Elementary School

Beach Elementary School ranks #62 of 1,226 Oregon schools with an overall rating of 9.4/10, while Woodlawn Elementary School sits at #16 of 1,226 with a 9.4 overall — wait: the data shows Woodlawn at 9.4/10 versus Beach at 8.9/10, a 0.5-point gap that translates into a 46-spot difference in state rank. Both schools clear the top 5% of Oregon elementaries, but Woodlawn's #16 standing puts it in genuinely elite company for a Portland public elementary. The two schools sit just 1.9 miles apart, making the gap in rank all the more striking for families weighing neighborhood proximity against performance ceiling.

On academics, Beach Elementary School and Woodlawn Elementary School are dead even: both score 9.1/10 for academic proficiency. The separation comes in growth. Woodlawn Elementary School scores 9.8/10 on growth versus Beach Elementary School's 9.2/10 — a 0.6-point delta that signals Woodlawn is adding measurably more learning progress per student, per year. For families who care not just about where kids test but how fast they're improving, that 0.6-point growth advantage at Woodlawn is the single most meaningful number in this comparison.

Both schools serve nearly identical socioeconomic populations — free and reduced lunch eligibility sits at 65% at Beach Elementary School and 64% at Woodlawn Elementary School, essentially the same. Enrollment is close: Beach at 325 students versus Woodlawn at 299. Where they diverge is class density: Beach Elementary School runs an 18.1:1 student-teacher ratio compared to Woodlawn Elementary School's 16.6:1, meaning Woodlawn teachers carry roughly 1.5 fewer students per classroom on average. In an elementary setting, that margin typically shows up in individualized attention and instructional pacing.

Both schools serve grades PK–05, so families with children across early elementary ages have equivalent grade coverage at either site. The distinction is not in structure but in trajectory: Woodlawn's higher growth score combined with its lower student-teacher ratio suggests a school where teachers have more bandwidth to push students forward, while Beach's larger enrollment and equivalent academic score point to a well-resourced, stable school operating at a high but slightly lower ceiling.