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Columbia City School

Q: Is Columbia City School a good school?

Columbia City School ranks 483 rd of 706 Oregon elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public Grades K-5

483^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 706 Oregon Elementary Schools

Better than 32% of Oregon elementary schools

Summary

Columbia City School is a small elementary school serving 195 students from kindergarten to 5th grade in Columbia City, Oregon, which is part of the St Helens School District 502. While the school is part of a lower-performing district, its academic performance lags behind many nearby schools, with consistently low test scores, high chronic absenteeism rates, and concerning equity gaps.

Columbia City School has struggled academically, ranking between 483 and 621 out of around 706 Oregon elementary schools over the past few years and maintaining a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's test scores in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are significantly lower than state averages, with particularly weak performance in Mathematics. Additionally, the school has high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 32.5% to 41.9%, which are much higher than the state average and the rates of nearby schools like Skyline Elementary School (34.3%) and McBride Elementary School (34.3%).

Interestingly, while Columbia City School is part of the same district as Lewis & Clark Elementary School, its performance lags behind this nearby school on most metrics. In contrast, St Helens Arthur Academy, a public charter school within the same district, consistently outperforms Columbia City School, suggesting that the school model and approach may be a factor in student outcomes. The high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at Columbia City School, coupled with the school's lower performance, also suggests that socioeconomic factors may be playing a significant role in the school's challenges.

214

Students ?

17.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$5,028

Per pupil spending ?

72.9%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2000 Second St
Columbia City, OR 97018-0339

(503) 366-7550

District: St Helens School District 502

Racial breakdown:

White:

78.5%

Hispanic:

13.1%

Two or more races:

6.5%

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At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 28th percentile in 2019 → 32nd in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Oregon average (29% vs 38% meeting standards)

!Mathematics scores 12 pts below the Oregon average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school29%

District avg29%

Oregon avg38%

483^rd of 706

Oregon public elementary schools ?

Bottom 32%▲ up 4 pts since 2019

From bottom 28% (2019) to bottom 32% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Oregon Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 4Elementary Schools in the St Helens School District 502

104^th of 140St Helens School District 502 among Oregon districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Oregon percentile	Rating
2025	31.4	483 of 706	31.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	20.2	597 of 710	15.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	21.0	583 of 706	17.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	16.6	621 of 706	12.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	30.2	507 of 705	28.1%	★☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Oregon percentile	Rating
2025	25.2	513 of 653	21.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	21.3	549 of 658	16.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	30.0	463 of 652	29.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	18.6	558 of 646	13.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	26.8	492 of 621	20.8%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Oregon percentile	Rating
2024	44.9	268 of 523	48.8%	★★☆☆☆
2023	29.8	440 of 595	26.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	16.7	618 of 703	12.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	34.2	436 of 597	27.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Oregon percentile	Rating
2025	37.7	406 of 664	38.9%	★★☆☆☆
2024	28.9	475 of 662	28.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	16.6	592 of 665	11.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	20.5	553 of 654	15.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	31.3	444 of 623	28.7%	★☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Oregon percentile	Rating
2025	25.2	535 of 669	20.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	12.7	632 of 670	5.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	15.6	600 of 656	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	14.4	619 of 666	7.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	26.8	523 of 662	21.0%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Low Socio Economic Status (2024)49th percentile+33 vs school

Male (2025)39th percentile+7 vs school

Female (2025)21st percentile-10 vs school

White (2025)20th percentile-12 vs school

By subject vs Oregon (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts33%-10 vs state

Science31%~ state avg

Mathematics24%-12 vs state

4.0

1 rating

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1★0

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Schools Near Columbia City School

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				OSAS English Language Arts (2025)						OSAS Mathematics (2025)						OSAS Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2023)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	OSAS English Language Arts 3rd Grade	OSAS English Language Arts 4th Grade	OSAS English Language Arts 5th Grade	OSAS English Language Arts 6th Grade	OSAS English Language Arts 7th Grade	OSAS English Language Arts 8th Grade	OSAS Mathematics 3rd Grade	OSAS Mathematics 4th Grade	OSAS Mathematics 5th Grade	OSAS Mathematics 6th Grade	OSAS Mathematics 7th Grade	OSAS Mathematics 8th Grade	OSAS Science 5th Grade	OSAS Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Columbia City School	Public	K-5	2000 Second St	Columbia City	97018	Columbia County	St Helens School District 502	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(503) 366-7550	214	12	17.7	72.9%	168 (78.5%)	2 (0.9%)	28 (13.1%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (6.5%)	31.4	483^rd of 706 public elementary schools	31.6%		20.2	597^th of 710 public elementary schools	15.9%	114	28.6	22.6	50.0				19.0	20.0	34.4				31.3		$5,028	$306	$4,721
Lewis & Clark Elementary School	Public	K-5	111 S 9th St	Saint Helens	97051	Columbia County	St Helens School District 502	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(503) 366-7603	426	25	16.8	72.3%	309 (72.5%)	2 (0.5%)	62 (14.6%)	2 (0.5%)	11 (2.6%)	2 (0.5%)	37 (8.7%)	25.6	540^th of 706 public elementary schools	23.5%		29.7	495^th of 710 public elementary schools	30.3%	45	22.7	25.0	41.8				21.6	32.8	21.7				22.1		$20,303	$1,697	$18,606
McBride Elementary School	Public	K-5	2774 Columbia Blvd	Saint Helens	97051	Columbia County	St Helens School District 502	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(503) 366-7700	452	25	17.9	73.9%	353 (78.1%)	9 (2.0%)	55 (12.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.5%)	3 (0.7%)	25 (5.5%)	23.9	555^th of 706 public elementary schools	21.4%		24.9	541^st of 710 public elementary schools	23.8%	14	37.2	30.6	34.8				33.3	21.3	5.8				10.1		$19,381	$1,940	$17,442
St Helens Arthur Academy	Public, Charter	K-5	33035 Pittsburg Rd	Saint Helens	97051	Columbia County	St Helens School District 502	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(503) 366-7030	160	15	11.0	38.1%	128 (80.0%)	2 (1.3%)	18 (11.3%)	3 (1.9%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.0%)	65.3	205^th of 706 public elementary schools	71.0%		52.1	294^th of 710 public elementary schools	58.6%	89	39.1	54.2	61.9				43.5	37.5	42.9				47.6		$5,028	$306	$4,721
Warren Elementary School	Public	K	34555 Berg Rd	Warren	97053	Columbia County	Scappoose School District 1J	No	(n/a)	No	No	(503) 397-2959	109	6	17.1	35.8%	84 (77.1%)	1 (0.9%)	11 (10.1%)	2 (1.8%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (9.2%)								(n/a)															$18,384	$733	$17,651
South Columbia Family School	Public, Charter	K-8	34555 Berg Rd	Warren	97053	Columbia County	Scappoose School District 1J	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(503) 366-9009	66	3	22.0		59 (89.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.0%)								(n/a)															$6,635	$404	$6,231
Grant Watts Elementary School	Public	1-3	52000 SE Third Pl	Scappoose	97056	Columbia County	Scappoose School District 1J	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(971) 200-8002	382	23	16.2	38.7%	299 (78.3%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (11.3%)	4 (1.0%)	5 (1.3%)	4 (1.0%)	27 (7.1%)								(n/a)	42.4						42.9								$16,219	$745	$15,474
Hudson Park Elementary School	Public	K-6	28176 Old Rainier Rd	Rainier	97048	Columbia County	Rainier School District 13	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(503) 556-0196	423	22	19.2	88.2%	350 (82.7%)	2 (0.5%)	40 (9.5%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.4%)	15.3	632^nd of 706 public elementary schools	10.5%		20.1	598^th of 710 public elementary schools	15.8%	34	21.3	18.7	30.6	14.8			23.0	12.2	18.0	17.0			19.7		$19,204	$2,197	$17,007
Sauvie Island School	Public, Charter	K-8	14445 NW Charlton Rd	Portland	97231	Multnomah County	Scappoose School District 1J	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(503) 621-3426	212	13	16.0	25.5%	173 (81.6%)	1 (0.5%)	26 (12.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.2%)	87.2	77^th of 706 public elementary schools	89.1%		87.2	76^th of 710 public elementary schools	89.3%	1	73.9	75.0	45.5	62.5	63.6	69.6	82.6	54.2	50.0	66.7	72.7	69.6	54.5	52.2	$8,134	$449	$7,685
Vernonia Elementary School	Public	K-5	1000 Missouri Ave	Vernonia	97064	Columbia County	Vernonia School District 47J	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(503) 429-1333	206	17	12.2	71.8%	161 (78.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (12.6%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	17 (8.3%)	21.4	574^th of 706 public elementary schools	18.7%		23.1	559^th of 710 public elementary schools	21.3%	15	27.8	30.0	28.2				22.2	13.3	12.5				29.3		$18,620	$2,666	$15,954

Frequently Asked Questions about Columbia City School

Is Columbia City School a good school?

Columbia City School ranks 483^rd of 706 Oregon elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

What district is Columbia City School in?

St Helens School District 502

How many students attend Columbia City School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 214 students attended Columbia City School.

What is the racial makeup of Columbia City School?

Students at Columbia City School are 79% White, 13% Hispanic, 7% Two or more races.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Oregon Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.