The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Mcbride Elementary School
McBride Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in St. Helens, Oregon, as part of the St. Helens School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school sits on Columbia Boulevard, a main artery through town, and draws its students from St. Helens itself, a Columbia River community that has grown rapidly in recent years as families have sought more affordable housing and a small-town feel within commuting distance of Portland. The city retains a historic riverfront district and a working-class heritage rooted in timber and quarry work, though it now functions partly as a bedroom community for the metro area.
McBride Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that is the next largest group. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a context where economic need is a significant factor. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade, and its enrollment is spread fairly evenly across those grades, with a slight bulge in second grade.
State assessment results from the most recent testing year show that proficiency rates in English language arts, math, and science are below the midpoint among districts in Columbia County. In English language arts, the share of students meeting the state standard was modest across grades three, four, and five, with third graders performing somewhat higher than fourth graders. In math, the pattern was similar but with a sharper drop in fifth grade, where the proficiency rate was very low. Science results, tested only in fifth grade, were also low. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, sits below the midpoint when compared with other schools in Columbia County. Because this is the only year of data available for the school under the current assessment, there is no trend to show whether these results represent a change from prior years.
The school serves a population where a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that is higher than what many families in the surrounding county experience. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a Hispanic population that is the largest minority group. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the supports available for those populations.
McBride Elementary is a neighborhood school in a growing town where housing costs, while rising, remain below Portland metro averages. The school itself is a regular elementary school with no special designation or magnet program. It does not serve grades that produce a graduation rate, so that metric does not apply. The school's academic results, based on the single year of state testing available, place it below the midpoint among Columbia County elementary schools in overall proficiency. The pattern across grades suggests that math proficiency, in particular, declines as students move through the grade levels, with fifth grade showing a steep drop. English language arts proficiency is more consistent across grades but still below what many families would consider a strong baseline. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also low.
For a family considering McBride Elementary, the context matters. The school sits in a district and a town that are growing, with housing costs that are lower than Portland's but rising. The student population has a high level of economic need, and the school's academic results on state assessments are below the county median. A parent may want to ask the school about the specific instructional supports in place for math, especially in the upper elementary grades, and about any programs or interventions aimed at raising overall proficiency. The school does not serve grades that produce a graduation rate, so that measure does not apply. No data on chronic absenteeism or discipline was available in the source materials, so a family may wish to inquire about those topics directly.
See more original research from School Decision →