The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Daly Middle School
Daly Middle School serves seventh and eighth graders in Lakeview, a small rural town that functions as the county seat of Lake County in south-central Oregon. The school is part of Lake County SD 7, the district covering the town and surrounding area. Lakeview sits at the foot of the Warner Mountains on the edge of Oregon's high desert, with an economy built around cattle ranching, hay production, lumber milling at the Collins Companies sawmill, government employment at the Fremont-Winema National Forest headquarters and the Bureau of Land Management, and a growing tourism sector drawn to outdoor recreation. The town has faced financial strains in recent years, and while it has seen investments such as a state-approved water treatment plant and tax incentives aimed at attracting renewable energy companies, the population has remained small and stable.
Daly Middle School shares a campus with Lakeview High School, a configuration that puts grades seven through twelve in one location. The former Daly Middle School building now houses a community college learning center, a sign of how the district has repurposed space. The school building itself is not new; a bond approved in 2020 funded facility upgrades across the district, including roof replacements, safety and security improvements, and HVAC work at Daly Middle School. Those projects have been completed, with classroom modernization and ADA upgrades still in progress.
The school’s enrollment is small. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the student body comes from households with lower incomes. The student population is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students and smaller numbers of students who identify with two or more races or as American Indian or Alaska Native.
State assessment results from the most recent testing year show that a modest proportion of students met proficiency benchmarks in math and English language arts. On the state science test, where only eighth graders are assessed, the share of proficient students was lower. Compared to other districts in Lake County, Daly Middle School’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint, though the county-level comparison includes only a small number of districts. Because the school serves only two grades, there is no graduation rate to evaluate. Data on chronic absenteeism, course access, staffing ratios, and discipline were not available, so a family looking into those areas would want to ask the school directly.
The district has made several recent changes that affect the middle school experience. A new English Language Arts curriculum was adopted district-wide for the 2022-2023 school year, with a structured program for grades K-5 and a different series for grades 6-12, so Daly students now use that curriculum. An expanded partnership with a virtual academy now offers a full online learning option for grades 3-12, giving families who prefer remote instruction an alternative to the in-person middle school environment. These are lasting shifts that shape how teaching and learning happen at Daly.
For a family considering Daly Middle School, the picture is straightforward. This is a small-town middle school in a rural community where the economy is modest and the school reflects that context. Test scores are below the county average, and the share of students coming from lower-income households is high. The school does not offer an array of specialized programs or pathways; no such offerings were reported. The district’s recent bond work has improved the physical plant, and the shared campus with the high school means middle schoolers are in close proximity to older students. A parent would want to visit, talk with staff about how the school supports students who are behind academically, and ask about the specific resources available in a small school where the total enrollment is well under 200.
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