Beta You're viewing our redesigned school page. Prefer the classic layout?

Sue Buel Elementary

Public Grades K-5
501st
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 706 Oregon Elementary Schools
Better than 29% of Oregon elementary schools
Summary

Sue Buel Elementary is a public elementary school in McMinnville, Oregon, serving 421 students in grades K-5. It is part of the McMinnville School District 40, which is ranked 33 out of 140 districts in the state.

While the district and state have strong overall performance, Sue Buel Elementary has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Oregon elementary schools, with a current 2-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are lower than the district and state averages across all grade levels. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's 5th-grade proficiency rates were 29.1% in ELA, 16.7% in Math, and 17.5% in Science, compared to the district's 47.1%, 31.6%, and 26.4%, respectively. Additionally, Sue Buel Elementary has a high chronic absenteeism rate, ranging from 29.1% to 38.1% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state average.

Interestingly, the nearby schools within the same district, such as Wascher Elementary, Grandhaven Elementary, Memorial Elementary, Willamette Elementary, and Newby Elementary, generally perform better than Sue Buel Elementary across various metrics, including statewide rankings, academic achievement, and student group performances. For example, Memorial Elementary, the highest-performing school in the district, consistently ranks in the top 20% of Oregon elementary schools and outperforms Sue Buel Elementary by a significant margin in academic proficiency.

398
Students ?
15.7
Student/teacher ratio ?
$19,847
Per pupil spending ?
83.7%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1985 SE Davis St
       McMinnville, OR  97128

(503) 565-5500

District: McMinnville School District 40


Students who attend Sue Buel Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Patton Middle School
High:    McMinnville High School
Racial breakdown:

White:
48.2%
Hispanic:
45.0%
Two or more races:
5.8%
more
 See top rated Oregon elementary schools

 Compare Sue Buel Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 79th percentile in 2014 → 29th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Oregon average (28% vs 38% meeting standards)
!Ranking has slipped — down 50 percentile points since 2014
!Science scores 13 pts below the Oregon average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school28%
District avg39%
Oregon avg38%
501st of 706
Oregon public elementary schools ?
Bottom 29%▼ down 20 pts since 2015
From bottom 49% (2015) to bottom 29% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Oregon Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
6th of 6Elementary Schools in the McMinnville School District 40
33rd of 140McMinnville School District 40 among Oregon districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202529.3501 of 70629.0%★☆☆☆☆
202431.6476 of 71033.0%★★☆☆☆
202324.2556 of 70621.2%★☆☆☆☆
202231.8482 of 70631.7%★★☆☆☆
201934.2476 of 70532.5%★★☆☆☆
201846.3373 of 70947.4%★★☆☆☆
201743.0400 of 70142.9%★★☆☆☆
201656.6280 of 69759.8%★★★☆☆
201547.6357 of 70649.4%★★☆☆☆
201475.4143 of 69579.4%★★★★☆
201370.5170 of 70776.0%★★★★☆
201278.6116 of 73084.1%★★★★☆
201162.3259 of 69562.7%★★★☆☆
201047.2397 of 67441.1%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202541.553 of 10147.5%★★☆☆☆
202456.420 of 9779.4%★★★★☆
201928.386 of 9711.3%★☆☆☆☆
201838.292 of 17948.6%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202531.2450 of 65331.1%★★☆☆☆
202430.4462 of 65829.8%★★☆☆☆
202322.5532 of 65218.4%★☆☆☆☆
202227.6477 of 64626.2%★☆☆☆☆
201927.0490 of 62121.1%★☆☆☆☆
201843.4399 of 68141.4%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202539.9206 of 36243.1%★★☆☆☆
202444.4186 of 36549.0%★★☆☆☆
202337.9228 of 36036.7%★★☆☆☆
202247.9147 of 33956.6%★★★☆☆
201944.0203 of 36444.2%★★☆☆☆
201858.5154 of 47567.6%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202553.4196 of 51862.2%★★★☆☆
202453.6183 of 52365.0%★★★☆☆
202335.2400 of 59532.8%★★☆☆☆
202232.0478 of 70332.0%★★☆☆☆
201958.3196 of 59767.2%★★★☆☆
201868.4143 of 64077.7%★★★★☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202529.5472 of 66428.9%★☆☆☆☆
202434.1425 of 66235.8%★★☆☆☆
202327.3500 of 66524.8%★☆☆☆☆
202236.0418 of 65436.1%★★☆☆☆
201933.2426 of 62331.6%★★☆☆☆
201849.0334 of 68050.9%★★★☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202547.2132 of 35262.5%★★★☆☆
202417.9288 of 2993.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202330.2165 of 23128.6%★☆☆☆☆
201934.0191 of 30337.0%★★☆☆☆
201831.6347 of 48127.9%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankOregon percentileRating
202531.8464 of 66930.6%★★☆☆☆
202437.6414 of 67038.2%★★☆☆☆
202329.4471 of 65628.2%★☆☆☆☆
202237.2416 of 66637.5%★★☆☆☆
201941.8400 of 66239.6%★★☆☆☆
201854.6307 of 68355.1%★★★☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Special Education (2025)62nd percentile+33 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)62nd percentile+33 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)48th percentile+18 vs school
Hispanic (2025)43rd percentile+14 vs school
Female (2025)31st percentile~ school
White (2025)31st percentile~ school
Male (2025)29th percentile~ school
By subject vs Oregon (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts32%-11 vs state
Mathematics28%-8 vs state
Science18%-13 vs state

5.0
2 ratings · 2 written reviews
52
40
30
20
10
Rate Sue Buel Elementary
Have first-hand experience? A quick rating - and a sentence or two about what stands out (teachers, academics, safety, communication) - helps other families know what to expect.
Takes about a minute. We email you a link to verify your review - your address is never shown publicly.
Tap a star to rate
What people are saying
by a parent
Monday, March 9, 2020

Open Quote My son loves this school. He does not want to miss a day for fear of missing out on a great education. We love the caring students and staff. There is lots of help for those that need it or programs for those who excel and need more to their regular education. Excellent student to teacher ratio with lots of outreach to parents for partisipation in all activities. Overall very happy with Sue Buel Elementary! Close Quote


by a parent
Thursday, April 16, 2015

Open Quote My family moved to McMinnville at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, so my daughter has been attending her entire 2nd grade year. We are thrilled with the staff and the learning environment. The school is currently exceeding state standards, which was very important to us. We love our daughter's teacher, and Principal Legard is wonderful.

The staff takes a very hands-on approach to teaching and learning. They realize that children perform better when they get breaks and they provide healthy snacks as well. We love that the children are required to wear uniforms because it helps to set the tone for the learning environment. Buel is somewhat of an old-fashioned learning environment in a modern setting. While the school is newer, the teaching style resembles that of when I was in elementary school.

The learning environment is very organized, which really helps the parents. Every week, my daughter brings home her school folder which contains updates about what she is doing in her class as well as upcoming news, her homework assignments, school work she has completed, etc. Parents are required to sign the folder and the weekly newsletter in an effort to help parents get involved in their child's education, which also assists parents to stay informed. I look forward to reading her folder each week because it gives me the opportunity to see what my daughter is learning, how she is functioning, and she is able to share school work with me. She loves showing me the stories she writes, the books she reads, her math work, etc. My family highly recommends Sue Buel Elementary. Close Quote





Schools Near Sue Buel Elementary

Ranking:
Map legend
E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private






Frequently Asked Questions about Sue Buel Elementary

In the 2024-25 school year, 398 students attended Sue Buel Elementary.

Students at Sue Buel Elementary are 48% White, 45% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races.

Sue Buel Elementary ranks 501st of 706 Oregon elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Students who attend Sue Buel Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Patton Middle School
High : McMinnville High School

Rate Sue Buel Elementary!



Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when there is an update for Sue Buel Elementary!


Latest Oregon data All new data »
2023–24 through 2024–25 school spending dataAug 24, 2026
2024–25 graduation ratesJan 29, 2026
2024–25 attendance dataNov 20, 2025
2024–25 OSAS test scoresOct 2, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Oregon Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

Diagnostics