Foster Elementary School, Foster OR

Original Research by School Decision on Foster Elementary School

Foster Elementary School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in the unincorporated community of Foster, Oregon, a rural lakeside area within the Sweet Home School District 55. The town itself has no distinct downtown; it functions as a neighborhood of nearby Sweet Home and as a dispersed community along Foster Reservoir, where recreation and tourism shape the local economy alongside public services. The built environment is stretched along U.S. Route 20 and the South Santiam River, with limited walkability. Housing values in the area sit near the state average, and mortgage rates at the time of this analysis were typical of national trends.

The district context matters for families considering this school. In late 2024, voters rejected a bond measure that would have funded facility improvements, security upgrades, and classroom modernization; the district may bring a revised proposal in a future election, which could affect property taxes. Separately, the board voted to close Sweet Home School, an alternative K-12 school, at the end of the 2024-25 school year. That closure removed an alternative education pathway for district families, and affected students are being enrolled in their attendance-area schools unless they choose open enrollment. These changes signal a district in transition, and parents may want to understand how they could shape the resources and options available at Foster Elementary.

Academically, state testing data from the 2024-2025 school year provides a snapshot. Across the tested grades in math, proficiency rates vary noticeably by grade, with some grade levels showing a larger share of students meeting the bar than others. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: performance is uneven, with one grade level reaching a higher share than the others. Science results for fifth grade, the only grade tested in that subject, are limited. Because only a single year of data is available, no trend can be assessed. Compared with other districts in Linn County, Foster Elementary’s overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint. Parents should note that these results reflect a single year and that the school’s grade band does not include high school, so there is no graduation rate to report.

The student body is small, and the great majority of children are white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with notable economic need. No data is available on the share of students with individualized education plans or English learner status, and information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing is also missing. These gaps mean that families will need to ask the school directly about supports for students with special needs and about the learning environment beyond test scores.

Foster Elementary is a straightforward, rural elementary school in a district that has recently seen significant changes. Its academic results are modest relative to county peers, and the community it serves carries economic challenges. For a family seeking a small, neighborhood school in a lakeside setting with a recreational character, this school offers that context, though the limited data on student supports and the district’s unsettled bond and programming situation are worth exploring further.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 40% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 35% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 19%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 36% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 44% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 37% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 34% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 42% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 20% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolSweet Home SD 55, 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.