The top reported proficiency rate is 12% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clara Brownell Middle School
Clara Brownell Middle School is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in Umatilla, a small city on the Columbia River in Eastern Oregon. The school is part of the Umatilla School District 6R. No recent district-level changes were publicly reported, so this account focuses on what the school itself shows.
The state assessment results for the most recent testing year are the primary window into academic performance, and they describe a school where the share of students scoring proficient or above is low. In English language arts, the proficiency rate across all tested grades combined was roughly one in eight students. In math, the combined rate was about one in fourteen. In eighth-grade science, about one in ten students met the bar. The sixth-grade math result was so low it fell into a suppressed reporting range—the state does not publish the precise figure when the number of proficient students is extremely small. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages these rates together, places it in the bottom quarter among all districts in Umatilla County. Only one year of testing data is available for this school, so there is no trend to compare. A parent considering Clara Brownell may want to ask the school directly about academic supports, intervention programs, and how the school is working to improve these outcomes.
The student body is substantially Hispanic, with a large majority of students identifying as Hispanic or Latino; most of the remaining students are white. The school serves a population with high economic need: a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. This level of poverty typically correlates with additional challenges, and the district may offer federal Title I supports, though the school's Title I status was not reported. The middle school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate. Information on special education and English learner enrollment, chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing was all absent from the data available, which a family may wish to investigate directly.
Umatilla itself is a place in transition. The city has seen significant growth, described as the fastest-growing in Eastern Oregon, driven partly by Amazon Web Services data center campuses. But that growth has come alongside economic strain: agriculture and a large corrections facility remain major employers, and reported median household income has stagnated or declined. The housing market, relative to national benchmarks, is more affordable—a factor that may appeal to families moving into the area. The city’s population is about half Hispanic or Latino, and the school’s demographics mirror that. The community is rural in character, with a sparse built environment and a downtown that city planners aim to revitalize over a multi-year horizon.
For a parent or resident evaluating this school, the picture is of a high-poverty middle school in a growing small city where academic performance on state tests is very low across all subjects and grades. The school offers no advanced coursework or special programs in the available data, and there is no information on extracurricular offerings, counseling ratios, or class sizes. A family considering Clara Brownell should seek out the school’s own descriptions of its academic interventions, enrichment opportunities, and how it supports its large population of students from low-income and Hispanic backgrounds. The broader Umatilla community is one of modest housing costs, a changing economic base, and a concentrated need for educational investment.
See more original research from School Decision →