Lee Elementary School vs Markham Elementary School

Lee Elementary School and Markham Elementary School are both Portland, Oregon elementary schools serving grades KG–05, but Markham holds a meaningfully higher position in the state rankings — #23 of 1,226 Oregon schools compared to Lee's #50 of 1,226 — despite Lee's already strong standing. Markham's overall rating of 9.3/10 edges Lee's 9.0/10, a gap that understates how different the two schools look on individual metrics beneath the surface.

The clearest separation between the two schools is academic performance. Markham Elementary School scores 9.4/10 on academic proficiency versus Lee Elementary School's 8.4/10 — a full point difference on a 10-point scale. That said, both schools are identical on growth: each earns a 9.4/10 growth score, meaning students at Lee make gains at the same rate as students at Markham once enrolled. For families weighing current proficiency against trajectory, that growth parity is a meaningful data point in Lee's favor.

Markham is the larger school, enrolling 402 students compared to Lee's 289, yet both maintain an identical student-teacher ratio of 16.1:1 — suggesting Markham has scaled staffing proportionally. Lee serves a higher share of economically disadvantaged students, with 73% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch versus 64% at Markham. That 9-point difference in FRL rate reflects distinct neighborhood demographics across the 9.8 miles separating the two campuses, and it likely contributes to some of the academic score gap given the well-documented relationship between resource access and standardized proficiency measures.

Both schools serve the same grade span — kindergarten through fifth grade — so families won't find a structural difference in the years each school covers. The distinction between Lee Elementary School and Markham Elementary School comes down to academic proficiency levels today versus strong, equivalent growth rates; Lee's higher-needs population alongside its still top-50 state rank signals a school outperforming its demographics even if Markham posts higher raw scores.