da Vinci Middle School vs Harriet Tubman Middle School

Harriet Tubman Middle School holds a clear edge in overall rating, scoring 9.2/10 against da Vinci Middle School's 8.9/10 — a 0.3-point gap that translates into a significant difference in statewide rank: Harriet Tubman sits at #36 of 1,226 Oregon schools while da Vinci ranks #75 of 1,226. Both schools perform well above the state median, but Harriet Tubman's placement puts it in roughly the top 3% of all Oregon schools compared to da Vinci's top 6%.

The academic scores are nearly identical — da Vinci Middle School at 8.4/10 and Harriet Tubman Middle School at 8.5/10 — so proficiency levels alone don't explain the overall gap. The sharper difference is in growth: Harriet Tubman scores 9.9/10 on student growth versus da Vinci's 9.1/10. That 0.8-point growth gap means Harriet Tubman is consistently accelerating student progress at a rate that pulls ahead of an already strong academic baseline, regardless of where students start.

Harriet Tubman Middle School enrolls 321 students compared to da Vinci Middle School's 406, and its student-teacher ratio of 13.4:1 is meaningfully tighter than da Vinci's 16.9:1 — a difference of more than three students per teacher. The free and reduced-price lunch rate diverges substantially: 63% at Harriet Tubman versus 36% at da Vinci, indicating Harriet Tubman serves a higher share of economically disadvantaged families while still posting the stronger growth and overall rating.

Both schools cover grades 6–8 and sit just 1.7 miles apart in Portland, making them genuinely comparable options for the same neighborhoods. The programs and grade configurations are equivalent on available data, so the decision between them comes down primarily to the demonstrated differences in growth rate, class size, and the socioeconomic composition of the student body rather than structural offerings.