Greenwood Elementary School vs Rising Star Elementary School

Greenwood Elementary School and Rising Star Elementary School sit 11.4 miles apart within Seattle but occupy very different positions in Washington's school rankings. Rising Star Elementary School holds the stronger overall rating at 9.4/10 versus Greenwood Elementary School's 8.8/10 — a 0.6-point gap. The state rank tells a sharper story: Rising Star Elementary School places #11 of 2225 Washington schools, while Greenwood Elementary School ranks #115 of 2225. Both are strong performers, but Rising Star Elementary School's position in the top 0.5% of the state makes it a notable outlier.

The academic and growth scores cut in opposite directions. Greenwood Elementary School leads on academic proficiency with a 9.5/10 versus Rising Star Elementary School's 8.3/10 — a 1.2-point advantage suggesting higher current test score attainment. Rising Star Elementary School, however, dominates on growth with a 9.9/10 against Greenwood Elementary School's 8.6/10, meaning students at Rising Star Elementary School are gaining ground faster relative to academic peers, regardless of where they start. That growth score is near-perfect and is a primary driver of Rising Star Elementary School's top-11 state ranking.

The demographic and staffing differences between the two schools are substantial. Rising Star Elementary School serves 71% of students on free or reduced lunch, compared to 8% at Greenwood Elementary School — a 63-point gap indicating Rising Star Elementary School works with a much higher share of economically disadvantaged families. Despite that challenge, or arguably in service of it, Rising Star Elementary School's student-teacher ratio is 10.2:1 versus Greenwood Elementary School's 17.1:1, giving Rising Star Elementary School nearly seven more adults per ten students. Enrollment is nearly identical at 326 versus 324 students respectively.

Both schools serve the same grade span, PK through 5th grade, so the choice between them does not hinge on program level or age range. The core distinction is structural: Greenwood Elementary School delivers high static test scores with a homogenous, lower-need student body and a larger class size, while Rising Star Elementary School achieves exceptional growth outcomes for a high-need population with significantly more individualized staffing.