Greater Albany Public School District 8J

Greater Albany Public School District 8J serves roughly 8,771 students across 20 schools — 13 elementary, 4 middle, and 3 high — in and around Albany, Oregon, ranking 50th of 141 districts in the state with a 3-star rating. Nearly every school is high-poverty, with free/reduced lunch above 75% districtwide. As a district, results sit close to the state average: all-grade ELA is 47.8 versus 43.8 statewide, science is 31.7 versus 30.6, and math trails slightly at 32.1 versus 32.9.

The district's standout is Oak Grove Elementary School (5 stars, 91st percentile), the top-ranked elementary, with the district's highest math score at 65.4 and the lowest chronic absenteeism at 17.7%. North Albany Elementary School (87th percentile) posts the strongest all-grade ELA at 67.9, while North Albany Middle School (87th percentile) is clearly the strongest middle school. West Albany High School (79th percentile) graduates 95.1% of students. Timber Ridge School and Liberty Elementary School also earn 4 stars. Several schools are climbing: North Albany Elementary improved from the 81st to 87th percentile, North Albany Middle from the 80th to 87th, Central Elementary School from the 33rd to 60th, and Tangent Elementary School from the 21st to 52nd.

The biggest red flag is chronic absenteeism, which tracks closely with lower achievement: Albany Options at 80.0%, Sunrise at 48.8%, and South Albany High at 47.6%. Math is the clearest academic weakness; in 17 of 19 schools with both scores, math trails ELA — dramatically so at South Albany High School, where ELA is 49.7 against math at 11.6. Albany Options School faces severe challenges — a 41.3% graduation rate, with math and science under 5% — and South Shore Elementary School (9th percentile) and Waverly Elementary School (11th percentile, $25,280 per student) remain at the bottom. Spending and class size alone do not predict results.