Top 5 Highest Rated Elementary Schools – Portland Metro 2020

Talk to five students attending any given school in the Portland area, and you’re likely to get five different answers to the question “Is this a good school?” The truth is, there are many factors impacting student performance in 2020, from teachers to administration, to the student’s own home life and level of interest. 

On the other hand, there are schools that excel – and some that don’t – in measurable areas like graduation rates, student-to-teacher ratio, and staff turnover. While we can’t give a complete picture of what life is like in every school in the Portland metro area, what we’ve done here is gleaned the Top 5 public elementary schools, using two trusted online sources for school performance data. 

• GreatSchools.com. GreatSchools is a non-profit entity that rates schools based on test scores, student academic progress over time, and equity – whether there are performance gaps for disadvantaged students. GreatSchool’s data is trusted by millions of parents and has even come to influence real estate values.
• Oregon Department of Education. Their “at-a-glance school profiles” come out once a year and are available for every public school in Oregon. In easy-to-interpret graphic format, they provide numbers on the school’s academic success as well as important information about student demographics and staff levels. We examined the 2018-19 school profiles for this article. 

Top 5 Rated Elementary Schools in the Portland Metro Area

While elementary school students might say that the school with the most recess time is the best school, what really matters at this age is class size, the variety of activities available to pique young interests, and meeting or exceeding testing standards. Here are the schools that got top rankings for test scores and more.

1. Findley Elementary, Beaverton School District

2. Forest Park Elementary School, Portland School District

Location: Forest Park, NW Portland

Number of students: 427

GreatSchools Ranking: 9/10

Oregon DOE Report Card: Class sizes at Forest Park Elementary are smaller than average, and 92% of students attend school regularly. 86% meet state standards in English, and 79% meet state standards in Math. 

What stands out: Several extracurricular activities are available, including Mandarin and Math Team. 

3. Ainsworth Elementary School, Portland School District

Location: Goose Hollow/Southwest Hills, near downtown Portland. We profiled this neighborhood in our recent schools & neighborhoods article.

Number of students: 637

GreatSchools Ranking: 10/10

Oregon DOE Report Card: With a focus is on literacy and math fluency, Ainsworth achieves 83% of students meeting state standards for English, and 77% for Math.

What stands out: Ainsworth boasts a low teacher turnover rate of just 8%, and an educational assistant in a third of its classrooms. 

4. Stephenson Elementary School, Portland School District

Location: SW Portland, just north of Lake Oswego

Number of students:  350

GreatSchools Ranking: 7/10

Oregon DOE Report Card: Stephenson’s class sizes are smaller than average and they have a high rate of regular attendance. Though 82% meet state standards in English, and 71% meet state standards in Math, these numbers have declined slightly since the 2017-18 reporting year. 

What stands out: High teacher turnover may have contributed to the drop in students meeting English and Math standards — as well as its relatively low GreatSchools rating — but this school still performs well above average. 

5. Riverdale Grade School, Riverdale School District

Location: Dunthorpe, just north of Lake Oswego

Number of students: 401

GreatSchools Ranking: 9/10

Oregon DOE Report Card: 89% of students meet state standards in English, and 84% meet state standards in Math. Class size is smaller than average.

What stands out: There are just 2 schools in Riverdale School District, an elementary school and a high school.