The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Ocean
OCEAN is an alternative school in Port Townsend, Washington, serving kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is part of the Port Townsend School District and is classified as an alternative school, a designation that often means a non-traditional setting designed for students who may benefit from a different structure than a conventional comprehensive school.
The school is small. Its enrollment reflects that scale, and the grade-level counts are uneven, with the largest cohort in twelfth grade. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students forming the next largest group. The school’s type and size mean that many state assessment results are suppressed to protect student privacy, which is common when very few students take a given test.
Where state testing data is reported, it is limited. For seventh grade, proficiency rates in both math and English language arts were in the moderate range. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, sits below the midpoint relative to districts in Jefferson County. Science proficiency also fell in a similar range. Only one year of data was available for trend analysis, so there is no basis to describe improvement or decline.
Because the school serves all grade levels in one building, families considering OCEAN should be aware that a graduation rate was not available in the data provided. This is worth asking the school about directly, as an alternative program may have different completion pathways than a traditional high school.
The community context matters. Port Townsend is a small historic city on the Olympic Peninsula, known for its Victorian-era downtown, a working waterfront, maritime trades, tourism, and the Port Townsend Paper Mill. The city has seen gradual growth driven largely by retiree in-migration since the 1970s, and its median age is higher than the national average. Housing values are above the national median, typical for coastal Washington, and the area’s combination of cultural events, ferry access, and state parks gives it a distinctive character. The district itself had little publicly reported in terms of recent changes or strategic priorities, so a parent may want to check directly with the district office for any updates on programming or facilities.
OCEAN fits a particular set of circumstances: a small alternative school in a walkable, historically preserved town with a modest pace of development. Families drawn to an alternative setting for its flexibility should inquire directly about curriculum, student support, and post-secondary outcomes, as the publicly available data are sparse. A parent who wants a clear read on test-based performance will find that much of the information is suppressed, not because the school is failing but because its small size prevents public reporting. That makes a campus visit and conversation with staff especially important for understanding whether this program meets a student’s needs.
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