The top reported proficiency rate is 73% in English language arts. The lowest is 61% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Oak Grove Elementary School
Oak Grove Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Albany, Oregon, as part of the Greater Albany Public SD 8J. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school. The student body is predominantly white, with a noticeable share of students who identify as two or more races and a smaller Hispanic population. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing it within the range of a lower-poverty elementary school relative to the district overall. Enrollment is moderate for an elementary school in this grade band.
On state assessments administered in the 2024–2025 school year, Oak Grove’s students turned in results that sit well above the typical levels for schools in its county. The school’s overall performance across tested subjects and grades placed it in the top quartile relative to districts in Benton County. In English language arts, proficiency was strongest in fifth grade and notably solid in fourth grade. In math, fourth-grade proficiency stood out as the strongest grade level, while third and fifth grades posted similar, still above-average results. Science, tested only in fifth grade, showed that a majority of students met the proficiency standard, though this was the subject with the lowest share. Because the data available covers only a single school year, there is no multi-year trend to confirm whether these results are stable or represent an unusually strong year.
The school’s locale is Albany, a city whose economy was built on farming and manufacturing and now relies more heavily on retail trade, healthcare, and social assistance. Key employers include specialty metals producers, a freeze-dry manufacturing facility, and a federal research center. The timber industry’s decline and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs have weighed on the local economy, though there have been efforts to revive downtown shopping and attract green technology industries. The downtown area is a National Historic District with antique stores, restaurants, and a civic theater, and the city maintains over 30 parks and trails. Housing in the area carries a typical value that is moderately above the state benchmark. Rents have softened slightly in the recent period, while the overall cost of buying versus renting skews notably toward renting, as the estimated monthly mortgage payment exceeds the typical rent.
No information is available on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. Those gaps may be a result of the school not reporting this data in the available years, and a parent concerned about school climate or teacher retention may want to follow up with the school directly. There is no publicly reported information on course access or program offerings beyond the standard elementary curriculum. The district brief turned up no parent-relevant structural changes, suggesting a period of stability for the district as a whole.
For a family weighing options in the Albany area, Oak Grove Elementary presents itself as a solid academic performer, particularly in reading and math by fourth and fifth grade. Its enrollment is moderate, its student body is not economically diverse in the broadest sense, and the surrounding community is a mid-sized city with a working industrial heritage and a gradual economic transition toward services and technology. The school’s size and grade span mean it feeds into a middle school in the district, and that transition is a factor a family may want to investigate when looking at the full K–12 pathway.
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