North Powder Charter School

North Powder Charter School is a small, rural K–12 public charter school serving 252 students in the town of North Powder, Oregon — a community of a few hundred residents in Baker County along the I-84 corridor between Baker City and La Grande. It is the only school in North Powder School District 8J, so every school-level number is also the district number.

The school's standout statistic is completion: it has posted a 100% graduation rate for three straight years, up from 94.7% in 2021‑22 and 80.0% in 2020‑21, and runs about 17 points above the state average. Chronic absenteeism has stayed below the state every year — 25.2% in 2024‑25 versus 33.5% statewide — but that figure is the highest since 2021‑22 and jumped 9.9 points in a single year, worth watching alongside the perfect graduation rate. Resources look strong: a 10.8-to-1 student–teacher ratio, the lowest among nearby schools, and $24,525 per student, nearly identical to Cove Charter School's $24,298 despite Cove staffing at 15.2-to-1. One figure needs caution: free/reduced lunch eligibility more than doubled in a year, from 41.8% to 89.68%, a pattern that usually reflects a change in how eligibility is counted rather than a sudden demographic shift.

Test scores split by subject. English language arts is a strength at 51.7% proficient, above the state's 43.8%; math (29.1%) and science (28.3%) both trail state averages. Grade by grade, the bright spots are 4th grade — 78.3% in ELA and 52.2% in math — and 8th grade science at 47.4%, nearly 20 points above the state. The soft spots are 5th and 7th grade math, both at 11.8%, and 11th grade science at 10%. Eleventh-grade ELA and math results are suppressed by the state, so the final years are only partly visible. With roughly 19 students per grade, treat every grade-level number as a signal, not a precise measurement.