Lighthouse Charter School, Coos Bay OR

Original Research by School Decision on Lighthouse Charter School

Lighthouse Charter School is a public charter school serving preschool through eighth grade in Coos Bay, on Oregon's south coast. Housed on Highway 101 near the southern edge of the city, this small school draws its students from the broader Coos Bay area and operates within the Coos Bay School District 9. As a charter school, it offers an alternative to the district's traditional elementary and middle schools, though no specific information about its instructional model or program offerings was available in public records.

On state assessments, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among Coos County districts, a meaningful distinction in this regional context. Within the school, performance varies noticeably by subject and grade level. Reading proficiency is generally stronger than math, and science results are stronger still. But the proportion of students meeting state benchmarks falls below half in several grade levels, particularly in math. A family considering the school may want to ask how the school addresses these gaps and whether recent efforts are in place to raise achievement across the board. Only one year of test data was available, so no trend can be assessed yet.

Enrollment is small for a K-8 campus. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful share of students identifying as two or more races and a smaller Hispanic population. A substantial majority of students come from low-income households, as measured by free or reduced-price meal eligibility. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, nor were data on discipline, staffing, or attendance.

Coos Bay functions as the regional hub for healthcare, education, retail, and professional services on the Oregon coast. It has a working waterfront, a historic downtown district, and a mix of residential neighborhoods. The city offers outdoor recreation access to nearby state parks, the Oregon Dunes, and the South Slough estuary. Housing values are moderate relative to the state and national averages. The district itself reported no recent major changes or developments that would affect families.

Lighthouse Charter School fits a family looking for a small, choice-based environment in a coastal community where the school's performance is competitive with other schools in the county. The combination of a relatively high poverty rate and test results that, while above the county median, are still modest in absolute terms means that families should expect a school serving a population with significant economic need. Without program details or data on student support services, a visit and conversation with the school leadership would be the natural next step to understand how the school delivers on its charter.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 29% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 31%

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

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 19% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 15% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 33% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 19% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 32% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 31% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 33% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 27% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 48% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 869%

School 69% · District 38% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median

Science

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 18% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 24% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median

This schoolCoos Bay SD 9, 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.