Original Research by School Decision on Beaverton High School
Beaverton High School sits in the core of a mid-sized city that is both a residential suburb of Portland and a major employment center in its own right, hosting Nike’s headquarters, Tektronix, and a cluster of technology firms in the Silicon Forest corridor. The school is a comprehensive, non-charter public high school serving ninth through twelfth grade, the only one inside the Beaverton city limits within the Beaverton SD 48J. It draws students from a city that is suburban overall but has a vibrant downtown core around the Beaverton Central MAX Light Rail station, with a performing arts center, a farmer’s market, food cart pods, and the Beaverton City Library. Much of Beaverton is built out along car-dependent commercial corridors, but the transit center is TriMet’s busiest, giving students and families a strong public transportation option for getting to and from school.
State testing data is available for the 2024-2025 school year, and it presents a mixed picture. In English language arts, roughly half of students met the state’s proficiency benchmark. In mathematics, the proficiency rate was substantially lower, and science results fell between the two. These are single-year snapshots, so a trend is not yet visible. The data on students with individualized education plans and English learners was not available, so a reader cannot assess how the school serves those populations from this data alone.
The student body is diverse. Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed closely by white students, with smaller populations of students who are Asian, Black, Native American, or of two or more races. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a detail that matters for understanding the economic context the school operates within. The school is large, with an enrollment that is standard for a comprehensive high school serving an urbanized part of a metro area.
The housing market in Beaverton’s zip code reflects its position in a desirable Portland-suburb corridor. Home values are well above the national median and slightly below the state median, and they have softened modestly in the most recent year. Rents have been climbing. The typical mortgage payment on a median-priced home would significantly exceed the typical rent, meaning renting is the more affordable path here, and the rent-to-income ratio sits at a widely affordable level. The national unemployment rate has been stable, and real median household income nationally has held steady, offering a general economic backdrop.
A notable recent change in the district is the opening of Tumwater Middle School in fall 2021, which redrew feeder patterns. Families considering Beaverton High School should confirm which middle schools feed into it under the current boundaries, as this can affect the peer group entering as freshmen.
The school is a regular public high school in a city with a strong tax base, good transit access, and a mix of suburban neighborhoods and a walkable downtown. Its academic results in the most recent year show a clear gap between ELA and math performance, with math proficiency a particular area where a parent may want to look into this further with the school. The school does not have a magnet or charter designation, so its programs and course access are those of a standard comprehensive high school within the district.
See more original research from School Decision →