Summary
Leslie Middle School is a grades 6–8 school with 735 students at 3850 Pringle Rd SE in southeast Salem, Oregon, part of Salem-Keizer School District 24J. The most important thing to know about Leslie Middle School is that it has been steadily improving. Statewide, it ranked 288th of 379 Oregon middle schools (24th percentile, 1 star) in 2018–19 and climbed to 206th of 371 (44th percentile, 2 stars) in 2025–26. The gains came five years in a row — 27th, 32nd, 34th, 39th, then 44th percentile — moving the school from the bottom quarter into the middle of the pack.
Leslie outperforms its own district in reading (41.1% vs 34.5%), math (27.1% vs 24.1%) and science (24.2% vs 20.9%), but still trails statewide averages in all three. Among nine comparable neighborhood middle schools, it ranks fifth — behind Judson Middle School, Straub Middle School, Walker Middle School and Crossler Middle School, and ahead of Parrish Middle School, Claggett Creek Middle School, Houck Middle School and Waldo Middle School. Notably, Leslie spends more per student ($20,859) and has smaller classes (20:1) than any of those peers, yet Judson — only 1.3 miles away — posts higher scores on less funding. One clear pattern: Leslie's 6th-grade reading proficiency (46.5%) beats the state, but slips to 36.3% by 8th grade, matching the district. Chronic absenteeism is 42.7%, better than the district average but 9.2 points above the state.
Leslie's strongest results are with students from low-income families (56th percentile), students in special education (54th), Hispanic students (51st) and English learners (48th) — all at or above the school's overall standing. Multi-racial students are the clear exception, at the 20th percentile. Attendance, along with 8th-grade reading and math and science broadly, are the most actionable areas for growth.
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