Oak Heights Elementary School, Sweet Home OR

Original Research by School Decision on Oak Heights Elementary School

Oak Heights Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Sweet Home, Oregon, part of the Sweet Home School District 55. The school sits in a small foothills city at the edge of the Cascade range, a community shaped by timber history and now working to diversify its economic base with events like the Oregon Jamboree country music festival. Housing in the area is relatively attainable compared to state averages, and much of daily life depends on personal vehicles given limited public transit and a small-town layout.

The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic minority and small shares of students identifying as two or more races or American Indian or Alaska Native. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating that the school serves a population with substantial economic need. Enrollment is modest for a school covering this grade band.

State assessment results from the 2024–2025 school year, the only year available for review, show proficiency rates that vary by grade and subject. In math, the share of students meeting proficiency was roughly two in five in grades 3 and 4, dropped to about one in ten in grade 5, and rose back to around three in ten in grade 6. In English language arts, proficiency was fairly consistent: roughly two in five students in grade 3 and about a third in grades 4 through 6. Science, tested only in grade 5, had a lower proficiency rate. When Oak Heights is compared with other Linn County school districts, its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls below the midpoint. Because only a single year of data is available, no trend can be reported. A parent may want to discuss the grade-level differences in math performance directly with the school to understand what instructional approaches or supports are in place.

The Sweet Home district recently made two changes relevant to families. Voters rejected a bond measure in November 2024 that would have funded facility improvements, security upgrades, and classroom modernization; the district has indicated it may bring a revised proposal in a future election. Separately, the school board voted to close Sweet Home School, an alternative K–12 school, at the end of the 2024–25 school year. Students who attended that school will enroll in their attendance-area school, including Oak Heights for those in elementary grades, unless families pursue open enrollment elsewhere. The closure permanently removes an alternative education option that had been available in the district.

No information was available on special programs, staffing ratios, discipline patterns, or chronic absenteeism, so those dimensions cannot be described here. For a family considering Oak Heights, the picture is of a small elementary school in a town rebuilding its economy, serving a high-need student body, with state test results that vary across grades and are below the county midpoint overall.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 35% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 19% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 44% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 37% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 42% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 20% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 2 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.