Best Public Schools in Scappoose, OR

Scappoose, Oregon is served by five schools in Scappoose School District 1J, covering grades 1 through 12 plus a K–12 online option for about 1,864 students: one elementary school, two middle schools, one high school, and one alternative online academy. Scappoose High School is the largest with 709 students — roughly 38% of listed enrollment — followed by Otto Petersen Elementary School (416 students, grades 4–6 despite its name), Grant Watts Elementary School (382, grades 1–3), Scappoose Middle School (307, grades 7–8), and Scappoose Online Academy (50, grades K–12).

As a district, Scappoose outperforms Oregon in every all-grade subject: ELA 51.4% versus 43.8%, math 39.6% versus 32.9%, and science 41.3% versus 30.6%. Scappoose Middle School shows the clearest improvement, rising from the 54th to the 73rd percentile in state rankings and earning 4 stars for 2025–2026, with proficiency above the state in ELA (49.2%), math (37.5%), and science (40.0%). Grant Watts Elementary School pairs the district's highest known free/reduced-lunch rate (38.74%) with the lowest chronic absenteeism (22.6%) and lowest student-teacher ratio (16.2), and its math rate beats both district and state. Scappoose Online Academy posts the highest proficiency in the list (ELA 66.7%, math 49.2%, science 57.8%), but with only 50 students, a 125:1 ratio, $5,153 per-student spending, unknown free/reduced-lunch data, and a 69.2% graduation rate, its results are not directly comparable to traditional schools.

Scappoose High School shows the sharpest contrast: a 95.1% graduation rate, above district and state, alongside very low proficiency — ELA 17.2%, math 8.1%, science 17.1% — and a rank decline from the 91st percentile in 2023–2024 to the 6th percentile with 0 stars in 2025–2026. Math is the weakest subject district-wide, with only the online academy and Grant Watts exceeding the district rate. Chronic absenteeism is below Oregon's 33.5% at every school reporting it for 2024–2025, though Scappoose High and Scappoose Middle sit above the district's 26.2%.