Summary:
North Santiam School District 29J serves about 2,110 students across six schools in Oregon's Santiam Canyon area: three elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative K-12 program. District-wide it sits at the 45th percentile in Oregon with a 2-star rating, but that average masks wide differences among campuses.
Sublimity School is the clearest academic standout, ranking 107th of 709 schools (85th percentile) with 4 stars. It is the only school in the district above state averages in all three tested subjects — ELA 60.9%, math 53.1%, and science 41.2% — and has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 25.3%. Stayton High School posts the strongest graduation rate at 97.2%, well above the district's 83.7% and the state's 83.0%, but its ELA (36.1%) and math (20.0%) are below state, absenteeism is 37.4%, and its rank has slipped from the 68th to the 42nd percentile. Mari-Linn School has improved from the 17th to the 33rd percentile and from 1 star to 2 stars, though proficiency remains below district and state levels.
Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide concern at 35.3%, above the state's 33.5%; only Sublimity (25.3%) and Stayton Middle School (31.3%) fall below the state rate. Stayton Middle also has the district's lowest math (19.1%) and science (17.5%) scores. Spending and class size do not track neatly with results: Mari-Linn spends the most per student ($21,005) with the smallest classes (12.4), while North Santiam Options Academy spends the least ($11,999), has the largest ratio (33.0), the lowest graduation rate (52.5%), and the highest absenteeism (46.7%), with some test values suppressed and only 99 students, so comparisons should be cautious. Stayton Elementary School only has a 2004-2005 rank history, so its current trajectory cannot be assessed. Overall, math, science, and attendance are the district's clearest pressure points.
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