Days Creek Charter School, Days Creek OR

Original Research by School Decision on Days Creek Charter School

Days Creek Charter School serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade under one roof in a deeply rural corner of Douglas County. The school is a charter school, and it is also the sole K-12 campus in a single-school district. For a family considering this area, the school anchors the community in a way that a larger district’s campus often does not. Publicly reported descriptions of Days Creek place it as an unincorporated community with no downtown, no remaining general store, and a population that has been declining. The school itself is the central civic institution.

The student body is small and predominantly white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, which speaks to the economic conditions of the rural area. Class sizes in each grade are modest, which can allow for closer relationships between students and teachers, but the school’s academic profile on the state assessments shows a mixed picture that parents will want to weigh carefully.

Looking at the most recent state testing results, which cover a single year, proficiency rates vary by grade and subject. In reading and English language arts, the strongest showing came from the elementary grades, where roughly three-fifths of third and fifth graders met the bar, but fourth, seventh, and eighth graders posted lower results. In math, third graders were the standout, with a clear majority proficient, while every other tested grade had a minority of students reaching proficiency, and several fell below a third. Science results were available for fifth and eighth grade; the fifth graders showed half proficient, while the eighth graders were at about one-fifth. When averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among districts in Douglas County, meaning that despite the variation, the school outperformed the typical county district. That comparison context is important: the county’s median is relatively low, so the top-quartile ranking should be read alongside the absolute numbers, which for many grades and subjects reflect a student body that struggles with grade-level standards.

Because the school is a single school serving all grades, it functions as both an elementary, middle, and high school within one building. The high school graduation rate was not available in the data provided. The data also lacked information on Advanced Placement, dual-credit, or career-technical programs, so it is not clear what academic pathways exist for older students beyond the standard diploma. A parent of a middle or high school student would want to ask directly about course offerings, college preparation supports, and any partnerships with community colleges or trade programs. The district brief turned up no recent major changes such as curriculum overhauls or bond measures, so the school appears to be operating in a steady state.

Days Creek itself is a place of limited commercial services and no public transit or public library identified within the community. The nearest town with services, Canyonville, is a short drive west. Housing in the area would be rural residential, and the median household income is modest. Families moving here would be choosing rural life and a small school environment, not a wide array of extracurriculars or academic tracks. The school’s strengths lie in its community-anchoring role and its relative position within the county’s proficiency landscape, while the soft spots are the number of grades where proficiency rates are low, particularly in math and science in the upper elementary and middle grades. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking about specific supports in place for students who are not yet meeting benchmarks, and about the high school’s postsecondary and career planning resources, which are not documented in the available data.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 22 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

326 schools plotted. 10 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolDouglas County SD 15, 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.