Oregon Charter Academy, Mill City OR

Original Research by School Decision on Oregon Charter Academy

Oregon Charter Academy is a statewide online public charter school that draws its enrollment from across Oregon, with its administrative office located in Mill City, a small town in the Santiam Canyon of the western Cascade Range. The school serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and its enrollment is large for a charter school of its type, reflecting the reach of its virtual model. The student body is predominantly White, with a substantial Hispanic presence and smaller shares of students who are two or more races, Asian, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on free or reduced-price meal eligibility, special education status, and English learner enrollment were not available, so a parent seeking that information would need to inquire directly with the school.

Place matters less for a virtual school than for a brick-and-mortar one, but the host community—Mill City—is a former timber town that suffered heavy damage from the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire and is now in a rebuilding and population growth phase. Most residents commute to the Willamette Valley for work, and the town’s two remaining lumber mills remain significant local employers. The school itself is authorized by the Santiam Canyon School District, but its students are not bound to that district’s geography; families anywhere in the state may enroll, and the school’s programming is designed for remote delivery.

Academically, Oregon Charter Academy’s performance on the Oregon Statewide Assessment System places it above the midpoint relative to other districts in Marion County on an overall proficiency index that averages results across tested subjects and grades. State assessment results are available for grades three through eight in math, English language arts, and science. In math, proficiency rates across those grades cluster in a range that includes both lower and higher figures, with early elementary grades showing somewhat higher rates than middle grades. English language arts proficiency runs broadly similar, with a few grades reaching around the halfway mark and others a bit below. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grades, show proficiency at varying levels, with the fifth-grade result higher than the eighth-grade one. Because the school serves high school students, a parent may expect to see graduation rate or high school assessment data, but those metrics were not present in the available records—this is a gap worth following up on with the school directly, as it is not clear whether the state’s high school testing or cohort graduation data is reported for this charter in the same way as for traditional schools.

The school’s virtual format means that the typical classroom environment, peer interaction, and daily structure differ from a physical school. Course access, staffing ratios, and discipline data were not available, so a family considering this option would want to understand how the school supports student engagement, provides live instruction, and accommodates students with special needs or those who are learning English. The school’s grade span is unusual among charters in that it covers the full K–12 continuum, which may appeal to families seeking continuity through a single educational program.

What is clear from the available data is that Oregon Charter Academy serves a large, geographically dispersed student body and that its academic results on state tests in elementary and middle grades place it in the upper half of the county’s districts. Without high school outcome data, the picture for older students is incomplete. Families who are comfortable with a remote learning environment and want a public school option that is not tied to their local attendance boundaries may find this school worth a closer look, particularly if they can obtain the missing details on graduation rates, special education supports, and high school course pathways directly from the school.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

55.0%Cohort of 687 students · Class of 2021

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 346%

School 46% · District 40% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 33% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 28% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 28% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 29% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 25% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 45% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 38% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 40% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 39% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 36% · ▲ 5 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 33% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 24% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

This schoolSantiam Canyon SD 129J, 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.