Summary
Metropolitan Learning Center (MLC) is an alternative K–12 school in Portland School District 1J, enrolling 319 students at 2033 NW Glisan St in Portland. Its home district is highly rated — 12 of 141 in Oregon, the 91st percentile, 5 stars — so MLC's results are often measured against a strong benchmark. Nearby options are alternative K–12 schools too, but most sit outside Portland Public Schools and several are virtual, charter, or ESD special programs; only five nearby schools have enough academic data for meaningful comparison.
On 2025–26 state tests, MLC scored 55.5% in ELA, 37.5% in math, and 43.4% in science — above Oregon in all three subjects, but below its district in all three, with math the biggest gap at 13 percentage points. Results swing widely by grade: 5th-grade ELA (84.0%) and science (72.0%) and 4th-grade ELA (68.2%) and math (59.1%) are strong, while 11th-grade math (18.2%), 8th-grade math (23.1%), and 3rd-grade ELA (35.7%) lag. The state suppressed 11th-grade ELA and science, so those are unknown rather than weak. Among nearby alternatives with data, MLC is second-highest in ELA, second in science, and middle-of-the-pack in math, well ahead of Metro East Web Academy.
MLC's 2024–25 graduation rate was 73.3%, below the district's 82.5% and the state's 83.0%, but above Tigard-Tualatin Virtual Academy (60.7%) and FLEX Online School (61.0%), and below Alliance Charter Academy (79.3%) and Clackamas Web Academy (80.6%). Chronic absenteeism, 34.1%, is near district and state averages — far better than the big online schools, but far above those two charters. MLC spends $26,619 per student with a 13:1 student–teacher ratio, the highest spending and among the smallest classes nearby, though spending has swung sharply year to year. Free/reduced-price lunch rose from 16.38% to 41.69% in three years — worth watching.
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