Nyssa Middle School

Nyssa Middle School is a public middle school serving about 291 students in grades 6–8 in the small eastern Oregon community of Nyssa, part of Nyssa School District 26. In 2025–2026, Nyssa Middle School ranked 193rd of 371 Oregon middle schools (48th percentile, 2 stars). Its standing has climbed steadily — from the 19th percentile in 2018–2019 to the 48th percentile today — which is meaningful progress, though it still trails its own district, which ranks 27th of 141 districts (81st percentile, 4 stars).

Academically, English language arts is close to the state average (42.9% proficiency vs. the state's 43.8%), while math (28.2% vs. 32.9%) and especially science (22.2% vs. 30.6%) lag further behind. Eighth grade ELA is a bright spot at 52.2%, above the state's 41.5% and nearly matching the district's 52.5%. Sixth and 7th grade ELA and math generally fall below district and state averages. Compared with nearby schools, Nyssa outperforms Ontario Middle School in all three subjects (37.1% ELA, 26.0% math, 14.1% science), but trails Vale Middle School in every subject (50.8%, 46.2%, 36.4%), with the largest gaps in math and science.

Attendance is a genuine strength: 16.6% of students were chronically absent in 2024–2025, less than half the state rate of 33.5% and far below where the school was in 2020–2021 (35.1%). Still, that is above the district's 10.6% and Vale School District 84's 13.6%. Nearly all students (93.13%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, per-student spending is $21,057 — lower than both neighboring middle schools — and the student–teacher ratio of 15.8 is the highest of the three. Support for special education students has improved markedly, from the 8th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 60th percentile in 2025–2026, while English learner results have swung widely year to year. The biggest opportunities are raising math and science achievement and strengthening 6th and 7th grade outcomes.