Creston Elementary School vs Riverdale Grade School

Creston Elementary School holds a 0.5-point overall rating edge over Riverdale Grade School — 9.6/10 versus 9.1/10 — and that gap translates directly to state rank: Creston Elementary School sits at #4 of 1,226 Oregon schools while Riverdale Grade School ranks #40. Both placements are exceptional, but Creston's top-five position in the state makes it one of the highest-rated elementary schools in Oregon by any measure.

Academically, the two schools are nearly identical: Riverdale Grade School scores 9.9/10 versus Creston Elementary School's 9.8/10, a difference of just one-tenth of a point. The meaningful divergence is in growth — Creston Elementary School scores 9.7/10 on student growth compared to Riverdale Grade School's 8.6/10, a 1.1-point gap. That spread indicates Creston's students are advancing at a faster pace relative to their starting points, independent of where they begin academically.

On demographics and scale, Creston Elementary School enrolls 238 students against Riverdale Grade School's 400, making Creston a noticeably smaller school community. Student-teacher ratios are effectively identical — 15.9:1 at Creston Elementary School versus 16.0:1 at Riverdale Grade School — so class sizes do not differentiate the two. The 4.3 miles separating the two Portland campuses keeps both within reach for families in southeast and southwest Portland.

The most practical structural difference is grade configuration. Creston Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade only, while Riverdale Grade School extends through eighth grade, meaning Riverdale families can keep children in the same building through middle school without a transition. Creston students move to a separate middle school after fifth grade. Families prioritizing continuity of environment across elementary and early middle school years have a structural reason to favor Riverdale, even though Creston's overall and growth scores are higher.