Siletz Valley Schools, Siletz OR

Original Research by School Decision on Siletz Valley Schools

Siletz Valley Schools is a charter school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade in the small, rural community of Siletz, Oregon, within the Lincoln County School District. For a family trying to understand what this school offers, the most direct way to describe it is a small, close-knit K-12 environment, where the student body reflects the local community, and where state test scores are significantly below state averages across all tested grades and subjects. This pattern is consistent and should be a central factor in any family’s evaluation.

The school’s enrollment is small and serves a student population that is nearly evenly split between white students and those who are American Indian or Alaska Native, with the remainder being students who are two or more races or Hispanic. A substantial majority of students come from low-income households. As a charter school within the district, it operates with a degree of autonomy, but as a single K-12 campus, the peer environment is largely defined by the fact that all students in the community attend the same school for their entire educational career. This creates a small, stable, and potentially very familiar setting, which can be a strong draw for families who want a single, consistent school community for their children from kindergarten through their senior year.

The academic performance picture is the school’s most challenging characteristic. In the most recent testing year, proficiency rates in English language arts, math, and science were all low, with the highest reported rate in any grade or subject being for eighth-grade English language arts. In every other reported grade and subject, the percentage of students meeting state proficiency standards was in the single digits or low double digits. The school’s own aggregate proficiency rates, across all tested grades, were also in the single digits and low teens. Because the school’s enrollment is small, some grade-level results were suppressed to protect student privacy, which is common. The graduation rate was not reported in the available data, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about its four-year graduation rate and post-graduation plans for its students.

The community surrounding the school is a small, rural city that has seen minimal population growth over the past two decades. The town’s economy and civic life are heavily shaped by the presence and history of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, who are a major employer and cultural anchor. The town’s character is low-density and auto-dependent, with housing that is predominantly owner-occupied. The school itself sits within this small-town setting.

The broader Lincoln County School District, which oversees Siletz Valley Schools, recently saw a significant capital bond passed by voters. This bond is funding a new elementary school in Newport, renovations at Taft High School in Lincoln City, and district-wide safety upgrades. While these are positive developments for the district, they describe construction and improvements at other campuses, not necessarily at Siletz Valley Schools itself.

The available data does not include information about the school’s program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, or discipline rates. A family interested in Siletz Valley would need to visit and ask specific questions about its career and technical education pathways, Advanced Placement or dual-credit opportunities for high schoolers, extracurriculars, and the specific academic supports in place for students who are not yet meeting proficiency standards. The school’s small size and K-12 structure could be a great fit for some families, but the academic results are a clear area of concern that warrants direct, thorough investigation.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 21 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 38%

School 8% · District 28% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 24% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 13% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 30% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 30% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 32% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 33% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median

Grade 75%

School 5% · District 30% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 23% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 17% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 15% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median

This schoolLincoln 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.