Elementary Schools in McMinnville School District 40

Elementary schools in McMinnville School District 40 serve grades K–5 at six schools enrolling 2,658 students, with enrollment ranging from 371 at Wascher Elementary School to 557 at Memorial Elementary School. The district ranks 31st of 141 Oregon districts — the 78th percentile — with 4 stars, but its elementaries span a wide range: two 4-star schools, two 3-star schools, one 2-star school, and one 1-star school.

Memorial Elementary School is the flagship, with the highest all-grade ELA (62.6%) and math (59.5%), a rank of 103rd of 709 (85th percentile, 4 stars), and the lowest chronic absenteeism at 16.6%. Wascher Elementary School is a strong second and the most improved, rising from the 56th to the 70th percentile, leading science at 41.3%, and spending the least per student ($18,472). Grandhaven Elementary School (63rd percentile) and Willamette Elementary School (58th percentile, improving each year) sit in the middle. Newby Elementary School (43rd percentile, 2 stars) and Sue Buel Elementary (29th percentile, 1 star) are the lowest performers, especially in upper-grade math and science; Sue Buel's 5th grade math is 18.3%.

Patterns worth knowing: attendance tracks achievement, since the top two schools have the two lowest absenteeism rates (16.6% and 19.9%) and all six stay below the district (29.9%) and state (33.5%). Science is the weakest subject overall, with only Memorial and Wascher above the district average of 35.5%. Spending and class size don't explain results — Willamette has the highest per-student spending and smallest classes yet mid-to-low outcomes, while Memorial has the largest classes and the best results. Free/reduced lunch rates are high everywhere (77.2% to 84.3%), showing that high poverty does not automatically mean low performance.