North Salem High School

North Salem High School is a large public high school in Salem, Oregon, serving grades 9–12 with 2,107 students in Salem-Keizer School District 24J, a high-poverty district where 89.27% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

In 2025–26, North Salem ranked 247th of 271 Oregon high schools (9th percentile, 0 stars), the bottom decile statewide — down from 142nd of 266 (47th percentile) in 2018–19. Proficiency is among the lowest of its local peers: 24.8% in ELA, 8.2% in math and 13.8% in science, below district and state averages and below Sprague High School, McNary High School, West Salem High School, South Salem High School and McKay High School. Chronic absenteeism is 62.1%, nearly double the state's 33.5% and better locally only than McKay (65.6%) and Roberts High School (78.0%). Graduation is 81.8% — above the district's 79.7% but below the state's 83.0% and every local peer except Roberts. That gap matters: most students graduate without meeting grade-level standards on state tests, suggesting credit recovery or alternative pathways play a large role.

North Salem spends $20,587 per student with a student–teacher ratio of 20.1 — more funding and smaller classes than Sprague, McNary, South Salem and McKay, all of which post better results, so money and class size alone don't explain the gap. Subgroup results show broad weakness: female, male, low-income, special education and gifted students all rank in the bottom quartile or lower, pointing to school-wide engagement and achievement challenges rather than one isolated gap. West Salem, South Salem, McNary and McKay all improved their state rank recently while North Salem slipped further. For contrast, Early College High School in the same district ranks 1st of 271 with a 100% graduation rate, though at 193 students it isn't directly comparable, and Cascade Senior High School in Cascade School District 5 ranks 85th with 63.8% low-income students.