Chief Joseph Elementary School vs Peninsula Elementary School

Chief Joseph Elementary School and Peninsula Elementary School sit just 0.8 miles apart in Portland, Oregon, and their overall ratings are nearly identical — Peninsula Elementary School ranks #29 of 1,226 Oregon schools at 9.2 out of 10, while Chief Joseph Elementary School ranks #33 of 1,226 at 9.1 out of 10. That four-slot gap in state rank places both schools in the top 3 percent statewide, making the choice between them a matter of specific fit rather than quality.

The sharpest academic difference runs in opposite directions depending on which metric you weight. Chief Joseph Elementary School holds a 9.5 out of 10 academic score against Peninsula Elementary School's 8.2 — a 1.3-point gap that reflects stronger absolute proficiency at Chief Joseph. Peninsula Elementary School flips that advantage on growth, scoring 9.9 out of 10 versus Chief Joseph Elementary School's 9.6, meaning students at Peninsula are adding more learning relative to their starting points, even if their raw proficiency floor is lower.

Both schools serve grades KG through 05 and share an identical free and reduced-price lunch rate of 64 percent, indicating comparable socioeconomic populations. Where they diverge is in size and staffing: Chief Joseph Elementary School enrolls 265 students at an 18.9-to-1 student-teacher ratio, while Peninsula Elementary School serves 234 students at a notably smaller 15.6-to-1 ratio. That three-student-per-teacher difference translates to meaningfully more individual attention per child at Peninsula.

Both schools cover the same grade band — kindergarten through fifth grade — so families with multiple elementary-age children can keep siblings together at either school. The academic profile at Chief Joseph skews toward demonstrated proficiency, while Peninsula's combination of a top-30 state rank and the highest growth score of the two suggests a strong capacity to accelerate students regardless of where they begin.