Weston Middle School

Weston Middle School is a small, rural public school in Weston, Oregon, serving roughly 187 students in grades 5–8 and acting as the only provider of those grades in the Athena-Weston School District 29RJ. It ranks 118th of 371 Oregon schools — the 68th percentile, or 3 stars — while its district ranks 40th of 141. About 74% of students are economically disadvantaged.

The most useful comparison is Central Middle School in the Milton-Freewater Unified School District 7, just 8.4 miles away. Weston's students scored 52.4% proficient in English language arts and 35.9% in math, versus 14.8% and 10.1% at Central — and Weston beats the state average in both, while Central sits well below it. The two schools serve almost identical student populations (74.3% vs. 72.8% economically disadvantaged), so the gap is not explained by who attends. Attendance is another strength: chronic absenteeism at Weston is 17.2%, compared with 28.3% at Central and 33.5% statewide, and has fallen by more than half since 2021-22, when it was 44.5%.

Weston's low-income students are its strongest group, ranking 97th percentile (5 stars, 7th of 240 schools statewide) in 2024-25 and 79th percentile in 2025-26 — above the school's overall standing. Per-student spending is $21,394, about 20% more than Central's, with a 14:1 student-teacher ratio. Two things to watch: 8th grade, where science lags the state (21.9% vs. 27.7%) and science is the only subject below state average (28.8% vs. 30.6%); and the student-teacher ratio, which tightened from 11.7:1 to 14:1 as spending rose.