The Dalles Middle School

The Dalles Middle School is a grades 6–8 school in The Dalles, Oregon, serving 513 students as part of North Wasco County School District 21. It ranks 301 of 371 Oregon middle schools in 2025–2026 (19th percentile, 1 star), while its district ranks 119 of 141 in the state. The school has been a 1-star school in every year shown, with percentile ranks mostly between 14 and 28, indicating long-term low performance without sustained improvement.

Academically, the school trails the state in every subject: 31.0% of students met ELA standards, 16.4% met math standards, and 17.5% met science standards, compared with state rates of 43.8%, 32.9%, and 30.6%. Math and science are the biggest weaknesses, with the lowest grade-level results in 6th-grade math (13.5%) and 8th-grade math (14.7%). Chronic absenteeism, at 32.4%, is slightly better than the state average (33.5%) and nearby schools, so attendance is not the factor that separates The Dalles from higher-performing schools.

Two nearby schools about 18.6 miles away in Hood River County offer useful comparisons. WyEast Middle School (rank 280 of 371, 25th percentile) performs only slightly above The Dalles, while Hood River Middle School (rank 54 of 371, 85th percentile, 4 stars) performs dramatically higher — despite nearly identical absenteeism rates. The Dalles serves a much higher-poverty population, with a 99.03% free/reduced lunch rate versus about 70.8% at both Hood River schools. It also spends less per student ($17,667) and has a higher student–teacher ratio (17.1) than either. Subgroup results are mixed: special education students reached the 55th percentile in 2025–2026, far above the school's overall rank, though such swings should be read cautiously given small group sizes.