North Douglas Elementary School, Drain OR

Original Research by School Decision on North Douglas Elementary School

North Douglas Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in a single campus in the small, historically timber-dependent town of Drain, Oregon. The school is part of the North Douglas School District, and it functions as the only public elementary and middle school option in town for families who want their children in a single school from the start of their formal education through the end of middle school.

The student body is small and predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which points to a community with a modest, working-class economic profile. Drain itself is a compact town with little commercial activity and a population that has been essentially flat or slightly declining. The housing stock is affordable, with home values and rents well below state and national medians. Families who live in Drain are choosing a small-town, low-cost setting where the local school is the academic and social center for children from kindergarten through early adolescence.

Academically, North Douglas Elementary presents a mixed picture. State assessment results in English language arts show a wide spread by grade level. In the elementary grades, proficiency rates range from below one in five students to somewhat above two in five, while the middle-grade scores are more consistent, with roughly half of students meeting the bar in seventh and eighth grade. In mathematics, proficiency rates across tested grades are lower overall, with none of the grades reaching the halfway point. Science results, available for fifth and eighth graders, show about one in three students proficient. The school’s overall proficiency, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint relative to other districts in Douglas County. This positioning suggests that while many students are not reaching the state standard, the school’s composite performance is not the weakest in the county.

Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism was not available in the records we examined. Information about special education enrollment and English learner populations was also missing, so a parent who needs to understand the school’s support for students with disabilities or language needs would want to ask directly about those services.

The school’s grade span means that most children who start here will stay in the same building for nine years. For families who value that kind of continuity, especially in a small community where the school is woven into daily life, that is a clear feature. For families who want a wider range of course options, extracurriculars, or the social dynamics of a larger middle school, this setting may feel limited. No information about specific program offerings, such as music, art, or career and technical education, was available in the data we reviewed.

The local context is that of a town that has seen little population growth or new development. The district brief did not surface any recent major changes such as bond measures, boundary shifts, or new program launches. The school itself appears to be a stable, longstanding institution without recent disruption. For a parent considering a move to Drain or deciding whether to enroll here, the key takeaway is that North Douglas Elementary is a small, affordable-community school where academic achievement in state testing is uneven—stronger in English language arts at the upper end of the grade band than in math across the board—and where the student body reflects the economic circumstances of a former timber town. Families who are comfortable with a modest academic profile and who want a one-school-through-eighth-grade experience will find a setting that fits that preference. Families who are looking for higher test scores, a wider array of programs, or a more economically diverse peer group may want to investigate further.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 14%

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

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 23%

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

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 18%

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

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 18%

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

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 38%

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

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 46%

even with state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

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

This schoolNorth Douglas SD 22, 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.