Faubion Elementary School, Portland OR

Original Research by School Decision on Faubion Elementary School

Faubion Elementary School, a regular public school in Portland’s Concordia neighborhood, serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of Portland Public Schools, the largest district in Oregon. The school sits in a city that is a major Pacific Northwest metropolitan center, with an economy driven by technology, healthcare, athletic and outdoor brands, and shipping. Portland is known for its walkable downtown, extensive public transit, and strong civic culture around sustainability and urban planning. The city’s population has declined slightly since 2020, but the metro area continues to grow, and housing costs have risen significantly, particularly in historically Black neighborhoods in North and Northeast Portland where Faubion is located.

Faubion is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It serves a student body that is diverse across racial and ethnic lines, with no single group forming a majority. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school’s enrollment is moderate for a PK-8 campus, and it draws from the surrounding Concordia neighborhood, a largely residential area on Portland’s east side.

State testing results from the most recent year show that proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science are low across all tested grades. In math, the share of students meeting the state standard is in the single digits or teens depending on the grade level. In English language arts, the pattern is similar, with the highest rates in the lower elementary grades and a drop in the middle grades. Science results are also low. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Multnomah County. Only a single year of testing data was available, so there is no trend to examine.

Because Faubion serves grades PK through 8, it does not have a graduation rate. Data on chronic absenteeism was not available. Information on special education and English learner populations was also missing from the data provided.

The school is part of Portland Public Schools, a district that has been navigating significant change. Enrollment has declined from pre-pandemic levels, and the district has undertaken a school consolidation process, proposing closures or mergers due to budget pressures and underutilized facilities. A large capital construction bond was placed on the November 2024 ballot to fund facility improvements, seismic retrofits, and safety upgrades across the district. These district-level dynamics may affect school assignment patterns and the condition of school buildings in the coming years.

Faubion sits in a city where housing costs are high relative to national benchmarks, and the cost of living has been rising. The school’s neighborhood is part of Portland’s east side, a largely residential area with commercial corridors and a mix of older single-family homes and multi-unit buildings. The city’s population has declined slightly since 2020, but the metro area continues to grow, and development pressures remain strong, particularly along transit corridors.

For a family considering Faubion, the picture is straightforward. The school serves a diverse student body in a neighborhood setting within a large urban district. Academic proficiency on state tests is low across all subjects and grades, and the school’s performance is in the bottom quartile among Multnomah County districts. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider. The broader district context includes a major bond measure and a consolidation process that could affect school facilities and attendance boundaries in the coming years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 56% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 56% · ▼ 43 pts below district

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

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 49% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 46% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 717%

School 17% · District 50% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 46% · ▼ 32 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 55% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 59% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 60% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 55% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 59% · ▼ 34 pts below district

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

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 57% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 45% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 41% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 23 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.