Creston Elementary School vs Woodlawn Elementary School

Creston Elementary School and Woodlawn Elementary School are both high-performing Portland elementary schools, but the gap in their overall ratings is narrower than their academic score difference suggests. Creston Elementary School holds a 9.6/10 overall rating versus Woodlawn Elementary School's 9.4/10 — a 0.2-point margin — yet their state rank separation is more pronounced: Creston Elementary School sits at #4 of 1,226 Oregon schools while Woodlawn Elementary School ranks #16 of 1,226. Both placements are exceptional by any measure, but families prioritizing the highest statewide standing will find Creston Elementary School further ahead in that specific metric.

The academic score gap is the sharpest numeric difference between the two schools. Creston Elementary School scores 9.8/10 in academics versus Woodlawn Elementary School's 9.1/10 — a 0.7-point delta that reflects meaningfully stronger tested proficiency at Creston. Growth tells a different story: Woodlawn Elementary School leads narrowly with a 9.8/10 growth score against Creston Elementary School's 9.7/10, indicating that students at Woodlawn are advancing at a marginally faster rate relative to their starting points. Families weighing raw academic outcomes against year-over-year student progress will find each school holds an edge in one category.

On demographics and classroom structure, Creston Elementary School enrolls 238 students compared to Woodlawn Elementary School's 299, making it the smaller campus. Creston Elementary School's student-teacher ratio is 15.9:1 versus Woodlawn Elementary School's 16.6:1, a modest but real difference in per-student classroom attention. Creston Elementary School serves a higher-need population — 78% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch compared to 64% at Woodlawn Elementary School — which makes Creston's stronger academic score particularly notable given that economic context.

The most concrete structural difference between the two schools is grade configuration. Creston Elementary School serves grades KG–05, while Woodlawn Elementary School serves PK–05, meaning Woodlawn provides a pre-kindergarten option that Creston does not. For families with four-year-olds seeking continuity in a single building before kindergarten, that distinction alone may determine the choice. The two campuses are 5.8 miles apart, so proximity will also factor into most families' calculus.