Best Public Schools in Damascus, OR

Damascus, Oregon has two schools in this data set — both listed as elementary, though one serves grades K–8 — with a combined enrollment of 983 students across two different districts.

Beatrice Morrow Cannady Elementary (K–5, North Clackamas School District 12) and Deep Creek - Damascus K-8 School (K–8, Gresham-Barlow School District 10J) both score above the state average in all-grade English language arts, math, and science. Their strengths differ, though. Deep Creek is the stronger ELA school, with 50.5% all-grade ELA proficiency and especially strong middle-grade results: 55.4% in grade 7 ELA and 60.4% in grade 8 ELA, plus 48.2% in grade 7 math and 47.9% in grade 8 math. Those middle-grade scores are far above state averages. Deep Creek also outperforms its own district by wide margins — 18.2 points in ELA, 21.5 points in math, and 13.7 points in science — even though that district ranks 114 of 141 with 1 star. Beatrice is the stronger math and science school, with 44.1% all-grade math and 34.9% all-grade science, and it has far lower chronic absenteeism at 20.2%, compared with 25.9% at Deep Creek and 33.5% statewide. Averaged across the three all-grade subjects, the two schools are essentially tied at 41.4% and 41.5%.

Families should note some differences in context and trends. Deep Creek serves a much higher free/reduced-lunch population (82.39% vs 58.3%) while spending less per student ($18,347 vs $21,736), and its student-teacher ratio is slightly higher (19.2 vs 18.5). Beatrice has held steady at 3 stars and the 62nd–68th percentile over three years. Deep Creek has slipped from 75th percentile with 4 stars to 59th percentile with 3 stars. Weak spots to watch: Beatrice's grade 3 ELA is below district and state averages, while Deep Creek's grade 5 math and science and grade 6 ELA and math fall slightly below state averages.