Original Research by School Decision on Clackamas High School
Clackamas High School sits within the North Clackamas School District, serving the unincorporated community of Clackamas, a Portland suburb roughly ten miles southeast of downtown. The school is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve, enrolling a student body that is large for its grade band. The community itself is car-oriented suburban development, a mix of residential subdivisions, commercial strips anchored by the Clackamas Town Center mall, industrial parks, and the large Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center. There is no traditional downtown; civic and commercial functions are spread across separate campuses. The MAX Green Line terminates at the transit center, offering light rail access to Portland, and several highways run through the area. The housing market carries a premium above the state average, consistent with a desirable Portland-adjacent suburb that has seen growth pressure, particularly along the Sunnyside Road corridor.
The student population reflects a diverse mix. About half the students are white, roughly one in five are Asian, about one in seven are Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and other groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners were not available, though a parent may wish to ask the school for that information directly.
State testing results from the most recent school year show that in English language arts, about a third of students met the proficiency standard. In mathematics, roughly one in ten scored proficient, and in science, about one in seven did. These are single-year figures, so there is no trend to examine. The proficiency rates are well below what many families would hope for, and this is an area a parent would want to explore further with the school. The district-level comparison set that includes Clackamas County’s eleven districts did not yield a usable proficiency index because the necessary data was missing at the entity level. The graduation rate and chronic absenteeism rate were also not available, so a fuller picture of how students progress through and complete high school is absent.
The school’s parent district, North Clackamas SD 12, has recently undergone notable changes. In the 2024-25 school year, the district shifted start times, sending high schools and middle schools to later bell schedules and elementary schools to earlier ones, a change based on research on adolescent sleep. A new elementary literacy curriculum grounded in the science of reading was adopted in 2023. In 2021, the district opened Adrienne C. Nelson High School in Damascus to serve the growing eastern part of the district, which reshaped feeder patterns for families in that area. More sobering for the district’s future, voters defeated a capital construction bond in November 2024 that would have funded facility improvements, safety upgrades, and capacity expansions. The district has identified a large sum in unmet facility needs, including aging buildings, meaning those improvements remain unfunded. This could affect school conditions and capacity in the years ahead.
Clackamas High School offers a large, comprehensive public high school setting in a suburban area with a diverse student body. Its academic outcomes on state assessments are a significant concern, and the absence of other outcome measures means families will need to seek additional information about graduation rates, college and career readiness, and support for students with special needs. The community is an expensive housing market with strong employment anchors and transit connections, but the school itself presents a challenge for families seeking strong measured academic performance.
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