The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Marysville Elementary School
Marysville Elementary School is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in southeast Portland’s Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood, part of the Portland SD 1J district. With a student body that reflects the city’s diversity, the school enrolls children from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds, including white students as the largest group, followed by those identifying as two or more races, Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which points to a community where economic diversity and need are present.
The school’s academic picture comes from Oregon’s state assessments for the 2024-2025 school year, the only year of testing data available. Across the tested grades—three, four, and five—the share of students meeting proficiency in English language arts declined from the early to the upper grades, starting at a point below half and dropping to about a third of fifth graders. In math, the pattern was similar but lower overall, with roughly two in five third graders proficient, falling to fewer than one in four by fourth grade and about one in six by fifth grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency was in a similar range to upper-grade math. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data—those measures apply to older students. When placed against other districts in Multnomah County, Marysville’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades landed above the midpoint. That comparative strength is worth noting, but it is set against a plain fact: a majority of students across every tested grade and subject did not reach the state’s proficiency bar, meaning a parent moving into the attendance area will want to ask the school what academic supports, intervention programs, or enrichment options are in place.
The school itself sits in a largely residential part of southeast Portland, a neighborhood of older single-family homes and commercial strips along nearby 82nd Avenue and Foster Road. The area is less dense than the city’s core but still well connected by bus lines and within a short trip of downtown amenities. Housing in the surrounding zip code has a typical home value and rent near the city norm; Portland’s overall market has seen a modest decline in home values recently, though rents have been rising. For a family looking at this area, the broader district context matters. Portland Public Schools has been navigating falling enrollment—down notably from pre-pandemic levels—and is in the middle of a school consolidation process that could affect which buildings stay open and how attendance boundaries shift. A major capital bond measure went before voters in late 2024 to fund facility upgrades, seismic retrofits, and safety improvements across the district; the outcome of that bond will shape the physical condition of schools like Marysville for years to come.
The data available for Marysville does not include information on teacher staffing, class sizes, special education or English learner support counts, discipline rates, or course access such as art, music, or physical education. Those are meaningful gaps for any family considering the school. An elementary parent would likely want to visit, talk to the principal about how the school supports students who are below proficiency, and ask specifically about the presence of specialists and intervention staff. The school’s teaching and learning environment is otherwise undocumented in the public records examined here.
What is clear is that Marysville Elementary is a neighborhood school in a large urban district undergoing significant change, serving a diverse, lower-income population with academic results that are mixed—stronger than many of its peer districts in the county on a combined index, yet still showing that most students are not meeting state expectations by the time they finish fifth grade. That tension defines the school. For a parent who values a close-to-home school with a varied student body and wants to engage directly with staff to understand how gaps get closed, Marysville warrants a closer look. For a parent who wants a school where high proficiency rates are already routine, the numbers here will give them pause, and they should investigate further what the school offers beyond what the tests capture.
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