Jefferson Elementary vs Roosevelt Elementary

Jefferson Elementary and Roosevelt Elementary sit 1.6 miles apart in Spokane, Washington, and both earn strong overall marks — but Roosevelt Elementary edges ahead, scoring 8.8/10 against Jefferson Elementary's 8.7/10. In state rankings, that gap is more tangible: Roosevelt Elementary sits at #160 of 2,225 Washington schools while Jefferson Elementary ranks #185 of 2,225, a 25-position difference that places Roosevelt in the top 7.2% statewide versus Jefferson's top 8.3%.

On academics, the schools essentially trade punches. Jefferson Elementary holds a narrow academic score advantage, 9.0/10 versus Roosevelt Elementary's 8.9/10 — a one-tenth margin that is unlikely to drive a decision on its own. Growth tells a different story: Roosevelt Elementary's growth score of 9.4/10 outpaces Jefferson Elementary's 8.6/10 by 0.8 points, meaning Roosevelt's students are advancing faster relative to their starting points, a metric that matters most for families prioritizing year-over-year learning momentum over static proficiency snapshots.

Roosevelt Elementary is the larger school, enrolling 431 students compared to Jefferson Elementary's 362. Student-teacher ratios are similarly close — 13.5:1 at Roosevelt versus 13.9:1 at Jefferson — so neither school has a meaningful classroom-size advantage. The most pronounced demographic difference is economic: Roosevelt Elementary serves a free-and-reduced-lunch population of 56%, compared to 36% at Jefferson Elementary. That 20-percentage-point gap indicates Roosevelt is educating a substantially higher share of economically disadvantaged students while still outranking Jefferson statewide, which speaks to the strength of its academic environment relative to its student mix.

Both schools cover the same grade span, PK through 6, so families with children entering kindergarten or those with a mix of younger and older elementary-age kids face no structural trade-off on grade coverage. The decision ultimately hinges on whether a family weighs current academic performance, where Jefferson holds a slim edge, against growth trajectory and equity outcomes, where Roosevelt pulls ahead.