Thurston Elementary School, Springfield OR

Original Research by School Decision on Thurston Elementary School

Thurston Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in southeast Springfield, in the Thurston area near the base of the hills. The school is a regular public school within the Springfield School District, and it is the kind of elementary school where academic proficiency rises noticeably as students move up through the grades, a pattern that parents looking at the trajectory may find encouraging.

On the Oregon statewide assessments, student performance in English language arts and math shows a clear upward slope. In third grade, just shy of half of students met proficiency in ELA, and in math about a third did. By fourth grade, those numbers climb. By fifth grade, roughly three-quarters of students were proficient in ELA, and a similar share in math. Science, tested only in fifth grade, lands between those two marks. The school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects places it in the top quartile compared to other schools in Lane County, a strong showing relative to the local field.

The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable multiracial population and a smaller Hispanic share. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. The enrollment is moderate for an elementary school, with each grade from kindergarten through fifth grade carrying a comparable number. The school is not a charter or magnet school, and its Title I status was not reported, so families should check with the district about any federal support programs.

Springfield itself is a mid-sized city that has shifted from a timber-based economy toward healthcare and technology as major employers. The city has distinct neighborhoods, and the Thurston area is more residential and suburban in feel than the downtown core. Housing values in the area are near the national median, with rents a bit above and mortgage costs making ownership a stretch for some households. The district did not have any recent major changes publicly reported, so families looking for new bond measures or curriculum shifts would need to contact the district directly.

The school environment data, including discipline rates, staffing levels, and chronic absenteeism, was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to follow up on with the school office. The school has no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. For families seeking an elementary school where students tend to hit their stride in the upper grades, Thurston Elementary shows a pattern worth examining in person.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 36% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 30% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 24% · ▲ 49 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 35% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 37% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Science

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 25% · ▲ 31 pts above district

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

This schoolSpringfield SD 19, 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.