Summary:
Vernonia School District 47J in rural northwestern Oregon serves about 237 elementary students across two K–5 schools: Vernonia Elementary School (206 students) and Mist Elementary School (31 students, or roughly five per grade level). The district overall sits at the 44th percentile of Oregon districts with a 2-star rating, per Vernonia School District 47J.
The two schools look very different on results. Mist Elementary School reports 81.3% proficiency in English language arts and 56.3% in math — roughly double the state rates of 43.8% and 32.9%. It achieves this while spending about $1,700 less per student and running larger classes than its sister school, and it also has the lower chronic absenteeism (35.5% vs. 41.4%). Those results are worth investigating, but they rest on very small numbers: the percentages land on sixteenths, consistent with only about 16 students tested, so one student's result can shift the rate by roughly 6 points. Mist's science score and all of its grade-level figures were suppressed by the state. Mist's only other ranking entry is from 2011–2012, so there is no recent history to confirm the pattern.
By contrast, Vernonia Elementary School scores at or below the state in every subject (ELA 38.4%, math 24.7%, science 8%) and has posted three consecutive years of 1-star ratings. Its third grade is a bright spot — ELA above both district and state — but performance drops sharply by fifth grade, where math trails the state by about 20 points and science by roughly 23. Both schools beat the district on attendance yet miss the state rate. Notably, the district's math and attendance weaknesses appear to come from grades above the elementary level, not from these two schools.
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