Duniway Elementary School vs Lent Elementary School

Duniway Elementary School and Lent Elementary School sit just 3.4 miles apart in Portland, Oregon, yet their profiles differ sharply beneath a nearly identical surface rating. Both schools score 9.3/10 overall, and the state rankings are effectively a tie — Duniway ranks #27 of 1226 Oregon schools and Lent ranks #28 of 1226 — meaning either school places a student in the top 2.3% statewide. For most families, that headline gap is noise; the meaningful differences live in the underlying subscores.

Academically, Duniway Elementary School holds a substantial edge, earning a 9.7/10 academic score against Lent Elementary School's 8.1/10 — a 1.6-point delta that reflects stronger current proficiency on state assessments. Lent flips the equation on growth, posting a 9.9/10 growth score compared to Duniway's 9.3/10. That 0.6-point advantage means students at Lent are, on average, gaining ground relative to peers at a faster clip — a signal that the school is adding meaningful value year over year regardless of where kids start.

The two schools diverge most visibly on demographics and class size. Duniway enrolls 409 students at a 21.5:1 student-teacher ratio; Lent serves 273 students at 13.7:1, giving Lent significantly more individual contact time per student. Free and reduced lunch eligibility underscores an economic divide: 13% of Duniway students qualify versus 73% at Lent, indicating Lent serves a far higher share of lower-income families and has built strong outcomes for a harder-to-serve population — which explains much of its exceptional growth score.

Both schools serve grades KG–05, so grade-span is not a differentiator. The practical tradeoff is this: Duniway's larger enrollment brings the social variety and extracurricular breadth that often come with size, while Lent's smaller enrollment and lower ratio create a tighter instructional environment. A family weighing raw academic proficiency leans Duniway; a family prioritizing demonstrated growth and personalized attention leans Lent.