Summary:
Vernonia School District 47J is a small Oregon district serving 554 students across four schools — two elementary schools covering grades K–5, one middle school for grades 6–8, and one high school for grades 9–12 — with no alternative schools. The district is ranked 79th of 141 in Oregon, at the 44th percentile with 2 stars. Test scores are OSAS percent proficient for 2025–2026, while absenteeism, graduation, free/reduced lunch, and spending are mostly 2024–2025 data; a dash (—) means the state suppressed the value, so it is unknown rather than zero. Poverty indicators are high everywhere, with free/reduced lunch between 67.74% and 72.47%.
Two schools stand out for different reasons. Mist Elementary School has the strongest current proficiency in the district, with ELA at 81.3% and math at 56.3%, plus the lowest chronic absenteeism (35.5%) and lowest free/reduced lunch. But it enrolls only 31 students, its science and grade-level scores are suppressed, and its only rank history is from 2011–2012, so those percentages can shift sharply. Vernonia High School is the clearest improvement story, rising from the 18th percentile with 1 star to the 69th percentile with 3 stars, ranking 83rd of 271. Its ELA (66.7%) and science (51.9%) are strong, but math is only 11.5%.
Math is the district-wide weak spot: 19.4% districtwide versus 32.9% statewide. Vernonia High School (11.5%), Vernonia Middle School (12.1%, now 1 star), and Vernonia Elementary School (24.7%) all fall below the state math rate. Vernonia Elementary's science proficiency is just 8%, its 5th-grade math 13%, and Vernonia Middle's 6th-grade math 5.1%. Chronic absenteeism exceeds the state's 33.5% in every school, highest at Vernonia High (47.3%) and Vernonia Middle (46.7%). Per-student spending ranges from $17,699 to $24,829 with no simple link to outcomes.
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