Original Research by School Decision on R a Long High School
R A Long High School sits at the historic center of Longview, a planned industrial city on the Columbia River in southwest Washington. The school was built alongside the Civic Center, the public library, and the YMCA using the founder’s personal funds, and it still functions as a downtown anchor in a city where manufacturing — timber, paper, chemicals, port cargo — remains the economic backbone. The school is one of two comprehensive high schools in the Longview School District, serving grades nine through twelve with an enrollment that places it in the larger range for a single high school.
The student body is diverse in background. Just over half of students are white, roughly a quarter are Hispanic, and the remainder includes students who are Asian, Black, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or multiracial. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a metric that signals a community with meaningful economic need. The school does not report data on special education or English learner populations in the available records, so a parent should ask the school directly about those supports and the share of students they serve.
On state assessments, R A Long’s results are mixed in a way that calls for a close look. In English language arts, a majority of students met the state proficiency standard, which is a solid result. In science, roughly half of students were proficient. In math, however, the share of students meeting the proficiency standard is low. This is a pattern a parent would want to explore with the school — what math pathways are offered, how the school supports students who arrive below grade level, and what advanced math options exist for stronger students.
Because the state data for this school provides only a single year of assessment results, there is no trend line to show whether these numbers are improving, declining, or holding steady. A parent might ask the school for trend data and for how the school’s performance compares specifically to Mark Morris High School, the district’s other comprehensive high school.
The district recently closed a special services school after the 2022-2023 school year, a change that could affect how specialized support is delivered across the district. No other major bond measures, levy changes, or curriculum reforms surfaced in publicly available material, so the district’s current priorities for high school academics are not well documented in the sources reviewed.
Housing in the Longview area is meaningfully more affordable than the Washington state average, which is a notable draw for families. Rent is also below the state benchmark. The combination of a lower-cost housing market and a planned, walkable downtown with a lakefront park and a historic civic core gives the community a distinct character. The city’s population growth has been modest and steady, and the industrial base continues to diversify beyond timber into chemicals and port logistics, so the economic context is stable without rapid expansion.
R A Long is a school with a clear strength in English language arts and a clear soft spot in math proficiency. It serves a student population that is economically diverse and racially varied, in a city that offers below-state-average housing costs and a strong sense of place built around its historic downtown. A parent considering this school should press for information about math instruction, special education and English learner services, and how the school’s academic trajectory is trending, since the available data leaves those questions open.
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