Vernon Elementary School, Portland OR

Original Research by School Decision on Vernon Elementary School

Vernon Elementary School serves students from preschool through eighth grade in Portland’s northeast neighborhoods. It operates as a regular public school within Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s largest school district. The school enrolls a moderate number of students for a K-8 building and is not a charter or magnet school.

The student body is racially and ethnically varied. White students make up the largest single group, followed by students who identify as Black, two or more races, and Hispanic. Smaller shares of students are Asian or Native American. A substantial majority of Vernon’s students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that a parent should consider in thinking about the school’s resources and peer context. The school did not report data on students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent who wants to understand special education or language support services would need to ask the school directly.

On state assessments administered in the most recent school year, Vernon’s performance varied across grades and subjects and was generally above the median when compared to other Portland-area public schools in Multnomah County. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested grades and subjects, sits in the top quarter of its countywide comparison set. In English language arts, the strongest results came in grades four and five, where a clear majority of students met proficiency standards. Grades six and seven showed softer results, with proficiency falling below half. Math results followed a similar pattern: the early elementary grades of three and four posted stronger numbers, while middle grades six and seven saw lower proficiency rates. Eighth-grade science testing showed a solid majority of students meeting the standard, while fifth-grade science was closer to even. A parent considering Vernon should note that the proficiency data represents a single year and that no prior-year trend data is available to show whether performance is improving or declining.

Because Vernon serves only through eighth grade, the school does not produce a graduation rate. A family looking for high school will need to plan for a transition after eighth grade within the Portland Public Schools system.

Portland is a large, dense city with an economy supported by technology, healthcare, and athletic apparel companies. Housing in the neighborhood near the school is expensive relative to national benchmarks, with home values and rents both above the national median. The national economic context shows a moderate unemployment rate and a 30-year fixed mortgage rate that has hovered around a mid-range level. For a family buying or renting in the area, housing costs will be a serious budget factor.

Portland Public Schools has seen a substantial enrollment decline since before the pandemic, and in response the district has pursued a Long-Range Facility Plan that includes school closures and consolidations. That process is ongoing, and the district’s decisions could affect attendance boundaries or school programming. The district also placed a large capital construction bond on the 2024 ballot, the largest school bond in Oregon history, to fund facility improvements, seismic retrofits, and safety upgrades. The outcome of that vote carries implications for both school facilities and property taxes.

For a parent, Vernon Elementary offers a through-grade K-8 experience in a diverse, economically mixed setting within a large urban school district. Academic performance on state tests is mixed, with stronger literacy and math results in the earlier grades and a drop-off in middle school. The top-quartile position within Multnomah County for overall proficiency is a positive sign, but the dip in middle-grade scores is a soft spot worth investigating further with the school. The broader district context of enrollment decline and potential school consolidation adds an element of uncertainty that families should factor into their planning.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 56% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 56% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 46% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 50% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 46% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 55% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 59% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 60% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 55% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 59% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Science

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 45% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 41% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above 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.