Grout Elementary School vs Portland Arthur Academy Charter School

Grout Elementary School and Portland Arthur Academy Charter School are both top-tier elementary schools in Portland, Oregon — but they occupy different tiers of the statewide rankings. Grout Elementary School holds an overall rating of 9.4/10 and ranks #14 of 1,226 schools in Oregon, while Portland Arthur Academy Charter School earns a 9.1/10 and ranks #39 statewide. That 0.3-point gap places both schools in the top 4% in Oregon, yet Grout's position 25 spots higher reflects a meaningful edge when comparing two otherwise elite institutions sitting 2.9 miles apart.

The academic scores land at a dead tie: both Grout Elementary School and Portland Arthur Academy Charter School score 9.3/10 on academic proficiency. The separation opens on growth. Grout Elementary School posts a growth score of 9.8/10 versus Portland Arthur Academy Charter School's 9.0/10 — a 0.8-point gap indicating that Grout students are advancing more rapidly relative to their starting points. For families weighing trajectory over baseline, that growth delta is the most operationally relevant number on the card.

The two schools differ sharply on demographics and size. Grout Elementary School enrolls 302 students compared to Portland Arthur Academy Charter School's 164, making Grout nearly twice as large. The free and reduced-price lunch rate at Grout Elementary School is 65%, against 30% at Portland Arthur Academy Charter School — a 35-point gap reflecting meaningfully different socioeconomic populations. Student-teacher ratios are nearly equal: 16.8:1 at Grout versus 16.4:1 at Portland Arthur Academy Charter School, so classroom access is not a distinguishing factor.

Both schools serve grades KG–05, so families with children through fifth grade are accommodated at either site without a grade-level mismatch. The structural difference is governance: Grout Elementary School operates as a regular public neighborhood school within Portland Public Schools, while Portland Arthur Academy Charter School functions as a charter — a distinction that affects enrollment access, lottery timelines, and school culture. Families who live within Grout's attendance boundary may have automatic access, while Portland Arthur Academy Charter School typically requires an application process common to Oregon charter schools.