Stearns Elementary School, Klamath Falls OR

Original Research by School Decision on Stearns Elementary School

Stearns Elementary School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Klamath Falls, a city that sits on the eastern edge of the Cascade Range and functions as the county seat of Klamath County. The school is part of the Klamath County School District, which recently passed a capital construction bond for upgrades across multiple schools, including safety improvements and HVAC updates. The district has also expanded career-technical education programs at its high schools, though those pathways are not available at the elementary level.

Klamath Falls itself offers a mix of residential neighborhoods, a historic downtown with museums and antique shops, and a geothermal heating system that keeps sidewalks clear in winter. Major employers include the Oregon Institute of Technology, Sky Lakes Medical Center, and the Air National Guard base at Kingsley Field. The city has seen recent housing development and new businesses, with home values and rents in the area falling below the state benchmark, offering a more accessible market compared to much of Oregon.

Stearns is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving kindergarten through sixth grade, with a student body that is predominantly white and Hispanic, and smaller shares of students who are two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, or Asian. A substantial share of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, marking Stearns as a school serving a community with notable economic need. Data on the share of students with individualized education plans or English learner status was not available.

State testing results for the most recent school year show that reading and math proficiency rates are modest, with the school sitting in the bottom quartile among its district peers in Klamath County when measured across tested subjects. In math, proficiency rates across the grades tested are below the state’s midpoint, with one grade level reaching a particularly low rate. Reading results follow a similar pattern, with each grade level posting proficiency rates that are not high. Science testing, which occurs only in fifth grade, also returned a low proficiency rate. Because only one year of assessment data is available, there is no trend to compare.

The school offers no information about course access, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or chronic absenteeism, so a parent may want to follow up directly with the school or the district for details on class sizes, support services, and school climate. The absence of a graduation rate is expected because Stearns is an elementary school and does not serve high school grades.

For a family considering Stearns, the picture is straightforward. The school sits in a city with a working, diversified economy and relatively affordable housing compared to the rest of Oregon. The student body reflects the area’s demographics, with a significant proportion of families in lower-income brackets. Academically, the testing data indicates that the school faces challenges in moving students to proficiency in reading, math, and science. A parent looking into Stearns would want to understand what interventions, tutoring, or enrichment programs the school offers and how the school supports students who are below grade level. The district’s recent investment in building upgrades may improve the physical learning environment, though how that translates into classroom support is something a visit or a conversation with the principal could clarify.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 43% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 27% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 26% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 24% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 40% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 31% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 42% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 38% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 23% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

This schoolKlamath County SD, 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.