Alki Elementary School vs Stevens Elementary School

Alki Elementary School and Stevens Elementary School sit 6.0 miles apart in Seattle, Washington, yet their statewide rankings tell a striking story about quality at the top. Stevens Elementary School holds the #2 position among 2,225 Washington schools, while Alki Elementary School ranks #66 — itself a remarkable result, but 64 spots behind. The overall rating gap is 0.7 points, with Stevens at 9.7/10 and Alki at 9.0/10, a difference that reflects consistent advantages Stevens holds across multiple scored dimensions rather than a single outlier category.

On academics, Stevens Elementary School scores 9.7/10 versus Alki Elementary School's 9.1/10 — a 0.6-point gap that places Stevens among Washington's absolute elite performers. Growth scores are nearly identical: Stevens at 9.7/10 and Alki at 9.6/10, meaning both schools accelerate student learning at a high rate regardless of where students start. The academic gap, then, reflects baseline proficiency levels rather than trajectory — Alki students grow just as fast, but Stevens students start and finish higher on measured outcomes.

The two schools serve meaningfully different student populations. Alki Elementary School enrolls 270 students compared to Stevens Elementary School's 151, and that smaller headcount at Stevens translates directly into classroom access: its student-teacher ratio is 12.6:1 versus Alki's 18.0:1, a difference of more than five students per teacher. Economically, Stevens serves a higher share of low-income families — 32% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch compared to 14% at Alki. Stevens's near-top ranking despite serving a more economically diverse population makes its academic achievement particularly notable.

One structural difference worth noting: Alki Elementary School offers prekindergarten through fifth grade, giving families the option to start as early as PK, while Stevens Elementary School begins at kindergarten. For parents of preschool-age children, Alki's PK offering may eliminate a separate school transition. Both schools operate as general-program public elementary schools within Seattle Public Schools, with no magnet or specialty program distinctions reflected in the available data.