Original Research by School Decision on Eola Hills Charter School
Eola Hills Charter School is no longer operating. According to the district’s own records, the school closed in 2023, ending its run as a charter option within the Amity School District 4J. For any parent or resident looking into this school today, the central fact is that it does not exist as a current educational option.
The school was located in Amity, a small town in southern Yamhill County, Oregon. Amity sits along Salt Creek at the base of the Amity Hills, an area with a long agricultural history—wheat, prunes, hazelnuts, hops—and more recently, a recognized wine region. The town’s built fabric is compact, centered on Trade Street, which was historically part of Highway 99W. Many residents commute long distances to jobs in the Portland and Salem areas rather than working locally. The town has a modest population that has grown gradually in recent decades, and the housing market in the area shows home values that are above the national typical level, with elevated mortgage rates that make affordability a challenge for many.
Because the school is closed, state testing data is not available for current years. What little test data exists in the record is from before the closure and is essentially absent: proficiency rates for math, English language arts, and science are listed as missing for all recorded grades, and participation rates are suppressed. No enrollment figures, student demographics, free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, or special population data are present in the available information. There is no graduation rate, as the school does not serve students at this point. The school’s grade configuration is ambiguous in the record—one field indicates a middle school grade band, while district sources describe it as a K‑12 school. Either way, the school is not available for families to consider.
The closure reduces the number of schools in the Amity School District from four to three, leaving the district with an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. The district itself is undertaking a bond‑funded project that includes renovating Amity High School and constructing a new shared‑use middle school facility, signaling investment in the remaining school infrastructure. But Eola Hills Charter School itself is no longer part of that landscape.
For a parent or resident, the takeaway is clear: this school offers no current academic pathway, peer environment, or student support. Anyone looking at the Amity area for schooling options would need to turn to the district’s three operating schools. The community context of Amity—its small-town character, its wine‑ and agriculture‑driven economy, and its commuting patterns—remains relevant for families weighing those other options, but Eola Hills Charter School is not one of them.
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