Oakhaven Elementary vs Memphis STEM Academy

Memphis STEM Academy and Oakhaven Elementary sit 12.1 miles apart in Memphis, Tennessee, but their state rankings tell a sharper story than proximity suggests. Memphis STEM Academy holds the #7 spot out of 1,785 Tennessee schools, while Oakhaven Elementary ranks #41 — itself an exceptional position, but 34 places behind. That gap translates to a half-point difference in overall rating: Memphis STEM Academy at 9.5/10 versus Oakhaven Elementary at 9.0/10. Both schools place in the top 3% of the state, so parents are choosing between two high performers, not between a strong school and a weak one.

The clearest separating factor is academic proficiency. Memphis STEM Academy scores 8.8/10 on academics compared to Oakhaven Elementary's 7.7/10 — a 1.1-point delta that reflects meaningfully higher test performance. On growth, however, the two schools are dead even: both earn a 9.9/10, meaning students at Oakhaven Elementary are gaining ground at the same exceptional rate as students at Memphis STEM Academy. Parents prioritizing trajectory and year-over-year progress will find no daylight between these schools; parents prioritizing absolute proficiency levels will find Memphis STEM Academy ahead.

Oakhaven Elementary enrolls 523 students across PK–05, more than double Memphis STEM Academy's 243. Despite its larger size, Oakhaven maintains a 14.5:1 student-teacher ratio — only one student more per teacher than Memphis STEM Academy's 13.5:1. Both ratios are lean by national standards. Memphis STEM Academy operates as a charter school, which shapes its admissions process, governance structure, and organizational culture differently from Oakhaven Elementary, a traditional public school with automatic neighborhood enrollment.

Both schools serve pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, so the academic journey covered is identical. The STEM-focused charter model at Memphis STEM Academy signals a structured curricular emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math from early grades forward. Oakhaven Elementary, as a conventional public school, offers a broader general curriculum without a declared programmatic lens, which can be an advantage for families who prefer instructional flexibility rather than a subject-concentrated sequence.