Sitton Elementary School vs Winterhaven School

Sitton Elementary School and Winterhaven School sit just 8.9 miles apart in Portland, Oregon, yet their profiles diverge sharply beneath nearly identical headline ratings. Sitton ranks #30 of 1,226 Oregon schools with a 9.2/10 overall rating; Winterhaven ranks #38 of 1,226 with a 9.1/10 — a 0.1-point gap that masks meaningful differences across every underlying dimension.

The academic and growth scores tell opposite stories. Winterhaven School holds a perfect 10.0/10 academic score, 2.2 points higher than Sitton Elementary School's 7.8/10 — the largest gap between these two schools on any single metric. Sitton flips the advantage on growth, scoring 9.9/10 versus Winterhaven's 9.6/10, meaning students at Sitton are gaining ground at a marginally faster pace relative to expectations even as Winterhaven's proficiency ceiling sits higher.

The demographic and staffing pictures differ just as sharply. Sitton Elementary School serves 335 students with a 12.0:1 student-teacher ratio and 70% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Winterhaven School enrolls 315 students but operates at a 19.7:1 student-teacher ratio — 7.7 students more per teacher — with only 23% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Sitton's classroom density is dramatically lower, which translates to more individual adult attention per child regardless of family income level.

Finally, Winterhaven's grade configuration sets it apart structurally: it serves grades KG–08, meaning families who enroll in kindergarten can keep their child in the same school through eighth grade, avoiding a middle school transition entirely. Sitton Elementary School runs KG–05, feeding into the traditional middle school pipeline. For families weighing continuity and community cohesion across the elementary and middle years, that distinction alone can be the deciding factor.