The top reported proficiency rate is 19% in Science. The lowest is 12% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elementary School
Jefferson Elementary School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in the small Marion County city of Jefferson. It is one of three schools in the Jefferson School District and sits within a compact residential community on the east bank of the Santiam River, roughly between Salem and Albany. The school is not a charter or magnet school, and it serves a substantial share of students from lower-income households.
Jefferson itself is a family-oriented bedroom community with a high homeownership rate. The city covers a very small geographic area, and its population has been slowly declining in recent years. Civic and school facilities are clustered together in the town’s footprint; the elementary school, middle school, and high school are all within walking distance of each other. The district recently completed a bond project that delivered a new middle school building and a six-classroom addition to Jefferson Elementary, along with updated security, a gym, and an upgraded playground. That investment is a permanent change to the facilities families will find when they arrive.
Academically, state assessment results from the most recent testing year show that proficiency rates across all tested subjects and grade levels are very low. In math, the share of students meeting the state’s proficiency standard was extremely low; for third and fifth grades the state suppressed the exact figures because they fell below a small reporting threshold, and fourth grade math proficiency was also low. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: a very small share of third graders met the standard, and the rates for fourth and fifth graders were low as well. Fifth grade science results followed the same pattern. When compared with other districts in Marion County, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quarter. A multi-year trend is not available because only a single year of data was reported. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies.
The student body is predominantly white, with about a third identifying as Hispanic and small numbers of other racial and ethnic groups. Information about the share of students receiving special education services or identified as English learners was not available in the data provided, nor were details on discipline or chronic absenteeism. This is a gap a parent may want to follow up on directly with the school.
Housing values in the Jefferson area are near the statewide median, with a slight year-over-year decline. The national 30-year fixed mortgage rate was around six and a half percent at the time of the most recent data, and the ratio of home prices to income nationally was elevated, which families considering a move to the area will want to weigh against the local market.
For a family seeking a small-town setting with a cluster of school buildings within a compact community, Jefferson Elementary offers a familiar neighborhood scale. The recent facility improvements are a concrete upgrade. But the academic data points to serious challenges with student achievement, and the school’s proficiency levels are among the lowest in the county. A parent evaluating this school would want to understand what academic interventions and supports are in place, how the district is addressing the low test results, and what the trajectory looks like for students who move on to the middle and high school within the same district. The data provided does not include information about specific programs, staffing, or curricular approaches, so those are additional questions a family would need to bring to the school itself.
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