Summary:
Ashland School District 5 serves about 907 elementary students across four schools: Helman Elementary School, Bellview Elementary School, and Walker Elementary School are conventional K–5 buildings of roughly equal size (242–260 students), while TRAILS Outdoor School is a smaller K–8 school of 157 students. Ashland School District 5 ranks 4th of 141 Oregon districts, and all four schools beat the state average in reading, math, and science.
Bellview is the academic standout: highest all-grades proficiency in all three subjects (ELA 76.6%, math 70.2%, science 69.8%), 26th of 709 Oregon elementaries, and 4th-grade ELA of 86.5%. Helman leads on attendance — 12.0% chronic absenteeism, about a third of the 33.5% state rate — with strong ELA (70.5%) and math (61.5%), the highest per-student spending ($22,351) and the smallest classes (14.8 students per teacher); science (45.0%) is its weak spot. Walker spends the least ($19,381) and performs solidly mid-pack, though its 4th grade dips (ELA 57.4%, math 55.3%). TRAILS is the outlier in both directions: the highest single elementary result here (88.2% in 4th-grade ELA) and strong 8th-grade math and science (64.3% each), but also the highest absenteeism (35.5%) and a weak 5th grade (ELA 40.0%, math 26.7%, science 13.3%). Its 3rd-grade ELA and math figures were suppressed by the state for privacy, so they are unknown.
Two things stand out for families. Science is the district's softest subject (48.3%), and schools diverge sharply — Bellview 69.8% versus TRAILS 37.9%. Poverty rates are nearly identical across the four schools (61.15%–66.53%) while proficiency spreads by more than 20 points, so demographics alone do not explain results. TRAILS' elementary swings rest on very small cohorts (~17 students per grade) and should be read with caution.
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