The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 8% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Woodburn Arthur Academy
Woodburn Arthur Academy is a public charter elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Woodburn, Oregon. As a charter school, it operates with its own instructional model while remaining part of the Woodburn School District, offering families a distinct option within the district’s portfolio. The school is small, with an enrollment that keeps class sizes manageable and allows for close relationships between students and staff.
Woodburn sits along the I-5 corridor between Portland and Salem, in the northern Willamette Valley. The city has a strong agricultural heritage rooted in nursery businesses and berry farming, and it is experiencing rapid population growth, making it one of the faster-growing communities in the Salem metropolitan area. The city’s population is heavily Hispanic or Latino, reflecting decades of Mexican immigration tied to farmwork, and the annual Fiesta Mexicana is a major cultural event. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to state benchmarks, and the median household income is below the national figure, with a notable share of residents living in poverty. The school itself serves a student population that is predominantly Hispanic or Latino, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need.
State testing data from the most recent school year provides a picture of academic performance at Woodburn Arthur Academy. In English language arts, proficiency rates across third, fourth, and fifth grades all landed below half of students meeting the state standard. In mathematics, the rates were lower still, with third grade showing around a third of students proficient, fourth grade around a fifth, and fifth grade results so low that they fell into a suppressed reporting range, meaning fewer than a handful of students scored at the proficient level. In fifth-grade science, proficiency was similarly low, with fewer than one in ten students meeting the bar. When compared to other schools in Marion County on an index of overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, Woodburn Arthur Academy sits below the midpoint of the county’s districts. The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and multi-year trend data is limited to a single year, making it impossible to assess whether performance is improving or declining.
Because this is a charter school, the detailed data that public school parents often rely on for gauging student support, such as special education identification rates, English learner classification, chronic absenteeism, and staffing ratios, is not fully available in standard state reporting. These gaps are not unusual for a small charter elementary, but a parent considering the school would want to inquire directly with the school about how it serves students with disabilities and students learning English, as well as how it supports foundational literacy and math skills given the proficiency picture.
The school’s location in downtown Woodburn, on Gatch Street, places it within walking distance of the city’s traditional downtown core along Settlemier Avenue and Front Street. The Jesse H. Settlemier House, a museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is nearby, and the annual Fiesta Mexicana draws large crowds for a multi-day celebration of Latino culture in this same area. The city’s built environment includes a historic downtown grid alongside newer commercial strips near I-5 and the Woodburn Premium Outlets, a major regional shopping destination, and suburban-style residential neighborhoods including a large 55-and-over retirement community. The Woodburn School District’s elementary schools are distributed across the city rather than clustered, so the neighborhood feel around Arthur Academy is shaped by its downtown setting.
For a family weighing this school, the key factors are clear. Woodburn Arthur Academy is a small charter elementary in a fast-growing, culturally vibrant community with significant economic diversity. Its academic results on state assessments are low across all tested subjects, and a parent would want to understand what instructional strategies or interventions the school uses to address this. The school’s charter status may offer a distinct educational approach worth investigating directly with the school’s leadership, and the small enrollment suggests a close-knit environment where each child is known. The absence of certain standard school-level data points means an informed decision will require talking to the school and the district about student support services, discipline practices, and family engagement. The community context is one of rapid growth, agricultural roots, and a strong Latino cultural presence, and for families who value those characteristics, the school’s downtown setting may be an asset. For families who prioritize test-score outcomes, the available evidence gives little reason to expect high proficiency rates, and a parent may want to explore what the school is doing to improve student achievement year over year.
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