Hillsboro Online Academy, Hillsboro OR

Original Research by School Decision on Hillsboro Online Academy

Hillsboro Online Academy is the fully virtual school of Hillsboro SD 1J, serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is a regular public school, not a charter, and it occupies administrative space at an address on Northeast Third Avenue in downtown Hillsboro. For a family weighing a full-time online option within the district, this is the single program to know.

The school’s enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the grades, with a noticeable uptick in the high school years. The student body is predominantly White, followed by a substantial Hispanic share and smaller representations of students who identify as two or more races, Black, and Asian. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are classified as English learners were not reported, which leaves a gap in understanding the level of economic and academic support the school provides. A parent curious about these supports would need to ask the school directly.

Test results come from Oregon’s Smarter Balanced assessments and show a mixed picture that varies sharply by grade and subject. In English language arts, the school reported a wide range of proficiency rates across the elementary and middle grades, with a couple of grades reaching a high rate and several others landing at lower levels. In math, the proficiency rates were consistently lower across the tested grades, with a single grade reporting a higher rate that stands apart from the rest. In science, the reported rates for fifth and eighth grade were roughly in line with the lower end of the ELA results. Because only one year of data was available, there is no trend to compare, so it is impossible to say whether performance is improving or declining. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages all tested subjects and grades, placed it above the midpoint among districts in Washington County. That said, the volatility between grade levels means the average masks meaningful differences a parent would want to investigate by their child’s specific grade.

Because this is a K-12 school, one might expect a reported high school graduation rate, but none was available in the state data. The same is true for chronic absenteeism. These gaps may reflect the nature of the online setting, where attendance and completion metrics are tracked differently, but the data does not explain the reason. A parent should ask the school for its graduation rate and how it defines on-time completion for its virtual students.

Hillsboro itself is a rapidly growing city in Washington County, known as the core of Oregon’s “Silicon Forest” due to the concentration of high-tech employers led by Intel. The city has a historic downtown, a popular mixed-use development at Orenco Station, and a MAX Light Rail connection to Portland. The school district, the fourth-largest in the state, recently completed major capital projects funded by a bond, including a new elementary school and a replacement building for another. The district’s current strategic plan, adopted for the years 2023 through 2027, emphasizes maximizing the student experience and preparing students for life after high school. Housing in the area is among the more expensive in the state, with home values and rents reflecting the broader Portland metro market.

For a family considering Hillsboro Online Academy, the fundamental question is whether the program fits the student’s learning style and the family’s capacity to support at-home schooling. The academic results are uneven, particularly in math, and the missing graduation rate and support-service data make it harder to gauge outcomes for older students. The school offers a full K-12 pathway entirely online, which may appeal to families seeking flexibility, but the available evidence suggests a parent should be ready to ask detailed questions about how the school tracks progress, what interventions are available when a student struggles, and what the post-secondary track record looks like for its graduates.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

70-79%Cohort of 56 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

326 schools plotted. 10 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 35% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 27% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 29% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 28% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 37% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 488%

School 88% · District 39% · ▲ 49 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 41% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 44% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 37% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 37% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Science

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 27% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 26% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolHillsboro SD 1J, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.