Best Middle Schools in Portland, OR

Portland, Oregon has 25 middle schools serving grades 6–8, spread across six districts and enrolling 14,765 students — an average of 591 per school, ranging from 329 at Harriet Tubman Middle School to 1,069 at Stoller Middle School. Portland School District 1J accounts for 15 of them, followed by Beaverton School District 48J and David Douglas School District 40 with three each, Centennial School District 28J with two, and Reynolds School District 7 and Parkrose School District 3 with one each. For context, state proficiency stands at 43.8% in ELA, 32.9% in math and 30.6% in science, with chronic absenteeism at 33.5%.

Academically, the area splits sharply. Nine schools earn five stars, and the top ten are dominated by Portland Public Schools and Beaverton. Sellwood Middle School ranks 8th statewide (ELA 77.9, math 71.2), followed by Stoller Middle School (72.3/68.3), Gray Middle School (73.0/61.6) and West Sylvan Middle School (73.8/62.9). Jackson Middle School and Harrison Park School show that high poverty does not dictate results: Harrison Park, with a reported free/reduced-lunch rate of 98.92%, ranks 88th and beats state in all three subjects. Harriet Tubman Middle School improved from 169th to 64th, and Ockley Green Middle School rose from 192nd to 109th.

At the other end, Hauton B Lee Middle School ranks 357th with zero stars, ELA 20.5, math 5.9 (8th-grade math under 5%) and science 7.3. Oliver Middle (ELA 17.7, the lowest), George Middle School and Parkrose Middle School — which has the highest chronic absenteeism at 47.9% — also struggle. Science is a system-wide weak spot, averaging 33.5% against 49.8% in ELA, and math often dips in 8th grade. Chronic absenteeism averages 32.0%, just below the state rate, with Stoller lowest at 17.2%.