Original Research by School Decision on The Cannon Beach Academy
The Cannon Beach Academy is a small public charter elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in the coastal town of Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is part of the Seaside School District, though it operates as its own separate school. The school sits on Hemlock Street, the main road that runs through Cannon Beach’s walkable downtown core, an area known for its art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, and a deliberate local policy that discourages chain businesses in order to preserve the town’s small-town character. The local economy is driven by tourism, hospitality, and retail.
The academy is very small, with an enrollment that matches its grade band. The student body is predominantly white, and a noteworthy share of students are Hispanic. Data on economic disadvantage, such as the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, was not available. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing, so a parent may want to ask the school about its special education and language support services directly.
Because of the school’s small size, the state has suppressed its proficiency results for each tested grade and subject to protect student privacy. This means that the school’s detailed state test scores from the Smarter Balanced Assessment in math, English language arts, and science are not publicly reported for the most recent year. However, a multi-year academic trend line does provide a single combined proficiency rate for all tested students across the school, and it shows a clear split. In English language arts, a large majority of students were proficient. In math, a much smaller share reached proficiency. That math result is a soft spot. The small enrollment means a handful of students can swing these percentages significantly, but the gap between reading and math is still a wide one, and a parent may want to ask the school about its math curriculum and how it supports students who struggle.
The school has no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Several common data points are simply not applicable or are suppressed because of the school’s size. The school’s small scale is its defining feature, and it shapes what can be known about academic performance from public data.
Comparisons to other districts in Clatsop County were not possible for proficiency, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism because the academy’s own data was missing or not applicable at the school level. The school’s charter status means it operates with some independence from the Seaside School District, though it remains part of the district for administrative purposes. The district itself has no parent-relevant changes reported in recent years, meaning there are no major recent disruptions or initiatives to note.
Housing in Cannon Beach is expensive, with home values well above the national and state medians. This makes the area a high-cost place to live, and the school’s enrollment likely reflects a mostly affluent residential base, though the missing free-and-reduced-price lunch data leaves some uncertainty about the full economic range of families attending.
The Cannon Beach Academy offers families a very small, walkable neighborhood elementary option in a tourist-oriented coastal town. The student body is small, the setting is pedestrian-friendly, and the school is part of a larger district for upper grades. The key academic takeaway is that reading proficiency appears strong while math proficiency is a clear area of concern, and the small size means public test data will always be limited. This is a school that fits a family seeking an intimate elementary experience in a specific community context, but the limited public data means a close conversation with the school about instruction and support is essential.
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