The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Philander Lee Elementary School
Philander Lee Elementary School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Canby, Oregon, part of the Canby SD 86 district. The school sits in a community that blends residential neighborhoods with a downtown core of shops, boutiques, and eateries along Oregon Route 99E. Canby’s economy draws on a sophisticated nursery industry—dahlias, tulips, perennials, shrubs sold nationwide—alongside small to mid-sized manufacturers in precision metals, high tech, and testing equipment. The city is growing, with new subdivisions being developed and what the city describes as a plentiful supply of shovel-ready industrial land. Housing values in the area, measured by a recent index, place Canby above the statewide median, and rents are moderate relative to incomes. The historic Canby Ferry crosses the Willamette River to Wilsonville, and the city operates its own bus system, Canby Area Transit, connecting to TriMet and Salem-Keizer Transit. These details give a sense of a self-contained town with its own economic base and distinct identity, not a commuter suburb.
Enrollment at Philander Lee is moderate for an elementary school. The student body is majority White, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. Nearly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that situates the school in a middle range of economic need. The school does not report the share of students with individualized education programs or those classified as English learners, so a parent seeking that information would need to ask the school directly.
The academic picture comes from a single year of state assessment data, the 2024-2025 Oregon Statewide Assessment System results. No prior year is available for comparison, so these results stand alone. In English language arts, proficiency rates vary by grade level, with the highest rate in sixth grade and lower rates in third, fourth, and fifth grades. In mathematics, across all tested grades, the percent of students meeting proficiency is low, and the fifth-grade math result is especially weak. Science is assessed at fifth grade only, and the proficiency rate is low. Overall, the school’s proficiency index—a combined measure across tested subjects and grades—places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Clackamas County, which includes eleven districts. That comparison should be read with the understanding that these are the first year of data from the current assessment, and the school’s grade span runs only through sixth, so the measure does not capture high school outcomes.
Because Philander Lee serves only elementary and middle grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data and discipline data are not available in the record we reviewed. The district brief turned up no recent bond initiatives, curriculum changes, or property-tax measures that would shape the school’s near-term direction.
For a parent considering Philander Lee, the most relevant takeaway is that while the school operates within a stable, growing community with a mix of housing and local employment, its academic results from this single year are weaker than many other elementary schools in the county. The low math and science proficiency rates, in particular, are worth investigating further with the school—understanding what interventions, curricula, or supports are in place. The English language arts results are mixed, with sixth graders performing better than earlier grades, which might reflect a developmental pattern or a cohort effect. Without trend data or additional context about instruction changes, it is hard to say more. The school has a notable share of students from lower-income households, and a family may want to ask about how the school allocates resources to support those students. The absence of data on special education and English learner populations means a parent with a child who has an IEP or is an English learner should contact the school directly to understand how those programs are structured.
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