The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 40%.
Original Research by School Decision on Blodgett Elementary School
Blodgett Elementary School is a tiny, regular public school in a deeply rural corner of Benton County, serving kindergarten through fourth grade. It operates as the sole school within the unincorporated community of Blodgett, a highway-intersection settlement with a population that has hovered around four dozen residents in recent years. The school sits at the junction of US-20 and a state highway in the Central Oregon Coast Range, roughly a 15-mile drive west of Corvallis. For a family considering this school, the first thing to understand is scale: the entire enrollment is smaller than a single classroom in many elementary schools.
There is no traditional downtown or walkable district in Blodgett. The built environment consists of scattered homes, a country store with gasoline and groceries, an ODOT Park & Ride lot, and the school itself. The school building, along with the store and the historic Blodgett Cemetery, forms the community’s civic core. Older students from the area are bused to schools in Philomath, about 10 miles east, which is also the seat of the district that operates Blodgett Elementary.
State testing data for the 2024-25 school year is very limited because the school’s small size triggers suppression rules that prevent the release of results for small groups. For third-grade math and English language arts, and for fourth-grade math, proficiency rates were suppressed. The only reported figure came from fourth-grade English language arts, where about two in five students scored proficient on the statewide assessment. Looking across all tested grades and subjects in that single year, the combined proficiency rate was roughly half in ELA and about three in ten in math. Because there is only one year of data available, no trend can be established. The school’s proficiency index, which averages all reported results, sits above the midpoint among districts in Benton County. That comparison set includes four districts, so the placement is moderate rather than exceptional, but it suggests the school’s academic performance is not an outlier on the low end.
The student body is predominantly White, with a small share of Black students and a few students identifying as two or more races. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with a notable level of economic need. Information on students with disabilities, English learners, discipline, chronic absenteeism, and staffing was not available in the data provided. Because the school only goes through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
The surrounding housing market reflects the area’s rural character and limited supply. There are very few housing units in Blodgett itself, and the median home value in the broader ZIP code area is somewhat above the Oregon state median, though prices in the immediate vicinity are shaped by the small stock. With almost no local employment base, most working residents likely commute to Philomath or Corvallis.
No recent district-level changes of parent relevance were found for Philomath School District 17J, so the school’s basic operation appears stable. A parent considering Blodgett Elementary would be choosing a school defined by its intimate scale, rural setting, and limited amenities. The academic picture is incomplete due to suppression, but the available data does not raise red flags compared to county peers. Families who want a small, close-knit school in a remote forested setting with a longer bus ride for later grades may find it a fit. Those seeking robust extracurriculars, program variety, or a larger peer environment would likely look to Philomath or Corvallis.
See more original research from School Decision →