Helix Charter School, Helix OR - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Helix Charter School

Helix Charter School serves the full K-12 range in a tiny, tightly knit farming community in northeastern Oregon. With a student body that is small for the grade band and overwhelmingly white, the school sits at the center of a town where grain elevators and dryland wheat fields define the landscape and where the school itself is the largest local employer. The town of Helix is rural, with most residents owning their homes, and annual events like the Heart of the Country Rodeo and the Wheatstock music festival draw the community together. There is no public transit, and the built environment is a compact grid of homes, civic buildings, and the school. The school’s charter status gives it operational flexibility, but the district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes at the district level, and the overall development context is static—the town’s population has grown very slowly over recent decades, with a modest number of housing units and a low vacancy rate.

Academically, the picture is mixed and uneven by grade. On state assessments in the most recent year, Helix Charter School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades placed it in the top quartile relative to districts in Umatilla County. That top-quartile position is driven in part by notably strong performance in certain grades. In English language arts, fifth graders posted a high proficiency rate, and sixth graders also came in above the midpoint of the school’s own range. Math results were more variable: fifth grade math was solid, third and seventh grade math were near the middle, and fourth and sixth grade math were lower. Science scores, available only for fifth grade, were around the midpoint of the scale. The eighth grade results for all subjects were suppressed, likely due to small group sizes, which is common in a school of this size. A single year of data limits the ability to see trends; there is no prior-year comparison available for this school.

The student body is small across all thirteen grades. The student population is predominantly white, with a modest share of students who identify as two or more races and a smaller share as Hispanic. A very small number of students are American Indian or Alaska Native, and a handful are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on students with disabilities, English learners, and economic disadvantage was not included in the available records, so a family would want to ask the school directly about the support structures in place for those populations. The school environment indicators that are sometimes available—chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staffing ratios, course offerings—were not present in the data; those gaps may reflect the school’s size or reporting practices, and a parent may wish to inquire at the school about class sizes, counseling, and extracurriculars.

For a family considering Helix Charter School, the setting itself is a defining feature. This is not a place with a bustling downtown or a wide array of out-of-school amenities; it is a quiet agricultural community where the school and the town are nearly one and the same. The academic pathway is shaped by small classes and a single building that runs from kindergarten through high school, so older students share a campus with the youngest—a dynamic that can appeal to families who want a close-knit, multi-age school environment. The proficiency data shows that the school is capable of strong outcomes in some grades and subjects, while other grades lag; a parent would want to understand how the school addresses those gaps, particularly in middle school math. The absence of program data means there is no information on advanced coursework, dual credit, or career and technical education offerings, so those looking for a wide menu of high school pathways should seek that information directly. For families who value a small, rural school where community ties are deep and the school is the heart of the town, Helix Charter School offers a straightforward, locally grounded option.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 7 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 359%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 41%

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

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 87%

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 63%

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

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

This schoolHelix SD 1, 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.