Molalla River School District 35

Molalla River School District 35 serves about 2,546 students across seven schools—five elementary, one middle, and one high school—in the Molalla area. The district is ranked 103rd of 141 in Oregon (27th percentile, 1 star) and trails state averages in English language arts (32.5% vs. 43.8%), math (23.2% vs. 32.9%), and science (19.1% vs. 30.6%). Chronic absenteeism is 35.8% (state 33.5%), and graduation is 78.1% (state 83.0%). Free/reduced lunch ranges from 52.99% to 69.66%, per-student spending from $8,450 to $19,933, and student-teacher ratios from 15.3 to 19.0.

Clarkes Elementary School is the academic standout: 54.5% ELA, 43.3% math, 28.0% science, 66th percentile, 3 stars, and the lowest student-teacher ratio (15.3), though its rank has slipped from 86th to 66th percentile. Rural Dell Elementary School and Mulino Elementary School are balanced performers with math above state (37.8% and 35.1%) and better-than-state attendance. Molalla River Academy has the best attendance (22.8% chronic absenteeism) and improved from 10th to 35th percentile. Molalla High School is the largest (745 students) with the highest spending ($19,933) but the lowest math (15.1%) and a sharp rank decline. Molalla Elementary School and Molalla River Middle School are areas of concern with high absenteeism and low proficiency.

Science is the district’s weakest subject; no school reaches the state average. Attendance divides the district: Molalla River Academy (22.8%), Mulino (27.9%), and Rural Dell (32.6%) are below the state rate, while Molalla Elementary (42.7%), Molalla River Middle (37.9%), and Molalla High (36.5%) are above. Clarkes shows high poverty (66.01% FRL) does not automatically mean low proficiency. Secondary math is a major pressure point. Rank trends show improvement only at Molalla River Academy, with declines at Clarkes, Molalla High, Molalla River Middle, and Molalla Elementary. Spending and outcomes do not move in a simple line. Grade-level pockets matter: 3rd grade math ranges from 20.3% at Molalla Elementary to 56.5% at Mulino, and Molalla River Academy’s 5th grade math is under 5% while its 6th grade math is 33.3%.