Summary:
The city of Dayton, Oregon is served by three public schools in Dayton School District 8: Dayton Grade School (K–5, 320 students), Dayton Junior High School (6–8, 204 students), and Dayton High School (9–12, 310 students), for a total enrollment of 834. There are no alternative schools in the area. The district is ranked 116th of 141 Oregon districts, in the 18th percentile with 1 star.
Dayton High School is the strongest performer: 142nd of 271 high schools, 48th percentile, 2 stars, up from the 16th percentile in 2024–2025. Its graduation rate is 91.4%, above the state's 83.0%, and ELA proficiency is 47.4%, above the state's 43.8% for all grades. Its math proficiency is 18.2%, below the state's 32.9%, and its chronic absenteeism of 43.2% is the highest in the district. Dayton Grade School sits at 531st of 709 elementary schools, 25th percentile, 1 star, but has the best attendance in the district at 27.3% chronic absenteeism, below the district's 34.2% and the state's 33.5%. Dayton Junior High School is the clearest concern: 335th of 371 middle schools, 10th percentile, 0 stars in each of the last three years, with ELA at 21.6%, math at 12.0%, and science at 11.5%.
Math is a district-wide weakness — every Dayton school falls below the state's 32.9% all-grade rate. Seventh- and eighth-grade results at the junior high are especially low: 7th-grade ELA is 9.7%, 8th-grade math is 8.9%, and 8th-grade science is 11.5%. At the elementary school, ELA rises from 27.3% in 3rd grade to 40.0% in 5th grade, while math falls from 28.8% to 18.0%. The junior high spends the least per student ($18,990) and has the highest student-teacher ratio (18.8), while the high school has the lowest ratio (14.7); these are patterns, not proof of cause and effect. Free/reduced-lunch figures exceed 100% at all three schools and cannot be read as reliable poverty indicators.
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