The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in English language arts. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lee Elementary School
Lee Elementary School is a regular public school in Portland serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It belongs to Portland SD 1J, the largest school district in Oregon, a system that has experienced notable shifts in recent years. The district placed a major capital construction bond on the November 2024 ballot, the largest school bond in Oregon history at the time, to fund facility improvements, seismic retrofits, and safety upgrades. Separately, Portland Public Schools has seen a significant enrollment decline, prompting a Long-Range Facility Plan and school consolidation process that proposed closing or merging multiple schools, a development that directly affects attendance patterns for families in the district.
Lee sits near the intersection of Northeast 92nd Avenue and a major east-side commercial corridor. The surrounding area is a residential part of the city with a mix of single-family homes and multi-unit buildings. Portland is a dense and walkable city with an extensive public transit network, including MAX light rail and frequent bus service, so many morning commutes are possible without a car.
The school enrolls roughly three hundred students. The student body is predominantly white, with substantial Hispanic, Black, and Asian populations and smaller numbers of students who identify as two or more races or as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves many families with lower incomes. The school did not provide data on students with disabilities or English learners in the available information, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those services.
Academically, state assessment data from the most recent year shows a mixed picture. In English language arts, about half of fourth graders met the state proficiency standard, while third and fifth graders scored below half. In math, proficiency rates were lower, with roughly a third of fourth graders and just under half of third and fifth graders meeting the standard. In science, only about a third of fifth graders were proficient. When compared to other districts in Multnomah County using a proficiency index that averages all tested subjects and grades, Lee sits in the top quartile, meaning its overall academic performance, while modest in absolute terms, is higher than most schools in the county when measured this way. The district has only one year of this assessment data available, so it is not possible to see whether scores are improving or declining over time.
Because Lee serves elementary grades only, there is no graduation rate to report, which is expected for a school of this grade band. The school does not serve high school students.
Families looking at this neighborhood should consider the district-wide context. Portland’s housing values are in line with a large West Coast metro area, and rents reflect that same pressure. The city’s population has declined slightly since 2020, but the metro area continues to grow, and the city manages that growth through an urban growth boundary that limits sprawl. Cost of living has been rising, with multiple local tax and fee increases reported as adding to household expenses.
Lee Elementary presents as a neighborhood school in a large urban district undergoing significant change, serving a diverse and economically mixed student body. Its academic results are in the stronger half of the county but still leave room for improvement, particularly in math and science. A parent considering this school would likely want to learn more about the district’s consolidation plans, how they might affect this particular school’s attendance boundaries, and what special education and English learner supports are available, given the gap in the available data. The school’s size is moderate for an elementary school, and its setting is within a major city with all the transit, cultural, and employment opportunities that provides.
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