Cesar Chavez K-8 School, Portland OR

Original Research by School Decision on Cesar Chavez K-8 School

Cesar Chavez K-8 School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood, part of the Portland SD 1J district. The school sits in a residential area of north Portland, a city of nearly 700,000 residents that is Oregon’s largest urban center and the economic hub of the Willamette Valley. Families here have access to Portland’s full civic infrastructure, including extensive parks, a light-rail and bus network, and a downtown employment base in healthcare, technology, and athletic-apparel headquarters. The district itself has been navigating a major enrollment decline and a school-consolidation process, while voters recently considered the largest school bond in Oregon history for facility and safety upgrades.

The school enrolls a moderate number of students for its grade band. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and a smaller but present White population; there are also small Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial groups, as well as a handful of Native American students. A substantial share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a high level of economic need. No data on special education or English-learner populations was reported.

State assessment results from the 2024-2025 school year are available for math, English language arts, and science. In math, the share of students scoring proficient ranged from roughly 10 to 25 percent across the tested grades (third through eighth), with the lowest rates in the upper elementary and middle-school grades. In ELA, proficiency rates were slightly higher but still modest: they ranged from about 15 to 28 percent, with the strongest results in fourth and seventh grades. Science results were available for eighth grade only, where about 13 percent of students met the proficient bar. The school’s overall proficiency index, which combines all tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Multnomah County. Because only a single year of data is available, no trend can be assessed—this snapshot is the only picture.

As a K-8 school, there is no graduation rate to report; students in these grades are not administered high school exit exams. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. No information was provided on course offerings, staffing ratios, or disciplinary patterns. A parent seeking details on those aspects would need to consult the school or district directly.

The school’s economic context reflects the broader city. Portland’s median home value and rents are high relative to national averages, and housing costs have risen sharply over the past two decades, particularly in north and northeast neighborhoods that have seen gentrification. Mortgage rates and rents have both increased recently, adding to the cost-of-living pressures that families across the city are feeling. For many families at Cesar Chavez, these economic forces may play a role in the school’s high share of students qualifying for meal assistance.

In short, Cesar Chavez K-8 is a neighborhood school serving a diverse and financially challenged student body in a large urban district undergoing restructuring. Its academic proficiency rates are well below the county median, and a parent evaluating the school for their child would want to investigate the specific instructional supports, programs, and school culture that the test data alone does not capture.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 56% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 56% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 46% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 50% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 46% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 55% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 59% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 60% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 616%

School 16% · District 55% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 59% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 57% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Science

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 41% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

This schoolPortland SD 1J, 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.