Forest Grove Community School, Forest Grove OR

Original Research by School Decision on Forest Grove Community School

Forest Grove Community School is a charter school located in Forest Grove, Oregon, serving students from first through eighth grade. As a charter school, it operates with its own governance and educational approach outside the direct management of the Forest Grove School District, though it remains a public school that any resident child can attend.

The school is small, with an enrollment that makes it a tight-knit community in practice. The student body is predominantly White, with a Hispanic population representing a significant minority. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, notably lower than what is typical in many public schools. Information on the share of students with disabilities or who are English learners was not available. The school is located on Pacific Avenue, near the commercial heart of downtown Forest Grove and within walking distance of Pacific University’s campus. This is a walkable part of a town that otherwise is car-dependent outside its core.

On state assessments administered in 2024-2025, the school’s overall performance in English language arts placed above the midpoint among districts in Washington County. Scores varied noticeably by grade level. In fourth grade, a strong majority of students met the bar. In seventh grade, roughly a third did. Math proficiency overall fell below the English results and also sat above the midpoint among the county’s districts. Here too performance was inconsistent across grades, with the strongest showing in sixth grade and noticeably weaker results in fifth and seventh grades. In science, proficiency rates in fifth and eighth grades were moderate. Because this is a single year of data, there is no trend to observe yet. A parent interested in how academic progress looks for children over time may want to ask the school for its internal measures or multi-year assessment history.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Likewise, there is no data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios, so a full picture of the school environment beyond test scores is not available from the standard data.

The school’s charter status is its defining feature. Families who choose Forest Grove Community School are opting into a smaller school environment that likely has more flexibility in curriculum and scheduling than a traditional district school. The lack of any high school grades means that families will need to transition their child to another school for ninth grade, either to a Forest Grove district high school or elsewhere. The district itself recently did not have any notable parent-relevant changes publicly reported, so the broader system has been stable in that respect.

For a parent weighing this school, the academic picture is mixed. English proficiency is a clear relative strength, particularly in the earlier grades, while math is weaker and shows more variability. The school’s size and charter structure appeal to those seeking an alternative to a larger conventional school. The housing market in Forest Grove sits near the state median for home values, and rents are moderate relative to the Portland area, making this a more accessible corner of the metro region. The town itself offers a compact downtown, a university presence, and good access to outdoor recreation, but commuting to employment centers in Hillsboro or Beaverton requires a car.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 32% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 27% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 17% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 21% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 17% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 15% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 25% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 33% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 28% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 31% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 28% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 18% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 21% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

This schoolForest Grove 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.