The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Hauton B Lee Middle School
Hauton B Lee Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Reynolds School District and sits in the east side of Portland, within the city limits but outside the downtown core. This is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, and it draws from a community in the Parkrose and outer east Portland area, a part of the city with older single-family homes, some industrial and commercial corridors, and a notably diverse population. The school building is located near NE 172nd Avenue, close to the border with the city of Gresham, in a section of Portland that feels more suburban in grain than the dense inner neighborhoods. Housing in this zip code is moderately priced relative to Portland as a whole, and the area’s home values have held fairly steady in a market where the broader city has seen a slight recent decline. Renters in this part of town pay a typical monthly rent that is below the city’s high-end neighborhoods, and the area is served by public transit, though it is less central than the walkable downtown or close-in eastside areas the city is known for.
The school itself enrolls a sizeable student body for a middle school, and its demographic profile is notably diverse. The largest single group is Hispanic or Latino students, who make up a substantial share of the enrollment, followed by Black students, White students, Asian students, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A very high percentage of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which points to a community where economic need is widespread. The school operates as a Title I school, a designation that brings federal funding to support students from lower-income households. Data on students with disabilities and English learners is not reported here, which is an absence a parent may want to follow up on with the school directly.
On state assessments, the academic proficiency rates across all tested subjects are low. In English language arts, the share of students who met the state proficiency bar in each grade level hovers in the mid-teens, and in math, the rates are in the single digits. Eighth-grade science proficiency is similarly low. These results place Hauton B Lee in the bottom quarter of schools in Multnomah County when measured by a combined proficiency index across subjects and grades. This is a clear and consistent signal about where the school’s academic achievement stands relative to peers across the county. There is only one year of state testing data available in the set used here, so there is no trend to examine for improvement or decline; a parent considering this school would want to ask about year-to-year change and any targeted efforts underway.
The broader district, Reynolds School District 7, appears to have been stable in terms of major public changes recently; no bond measures, significant curriculum shifts, or property-tax changes surfaced in a review of recent reporting. That does not mean the district is static, only that nothing large-scale has captured local media attention in the recent period. The school is part of a district that serves a diverse, economically mixed part of the eastern Portland metro area.
For a family weighing this school, the picture is straightforward on the academic side. The proficiency numbers are low, and the school sits in a low position compared to other Multnomah County middle schools. A parent who values a setting with a high level of economic diversity and a student body that is racially and ethnically varied will find that here in a pronounced way. The school’s location in a moderately priced, outer-east Portland neighborhood means housing costs are less intense than in the city’s pricier west side and inner eastside. The absence of trend data, IEP and English learner counts, and program offerings like electives or advanced coursework makes it harder to fully assess what the day-to-day experience is like. A family considering this school should contact the school directly to ask about academic support programs, special education services, English learner instruction, and any initiatives aimed at moving the proficiency numbers upward.
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