Summary:
ZIP code 97018 is home to exactly one public school: Columbia City School, an elementary school serving grades K–5 with 214 students in St Helens School District 502. Because there is only one school here, there are no local peers to compare against, so the most useful benchmarks are the district and the state. The school serves a largely low-income population, with 72.9% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch in 2024–2025, per-student spending of $21,443, and a student-teacher ratio of 17.7.
On 2025–2026 state tests, Columbia City School scored 22.6% proficient in English language arts (below the district's 30.8% and the state's 43.8%), 21.9% in math (above the district's 19.9% but below the state's 32.9%), and 14.8% in science (below the district's 26.8% and the state's 30.6%). Grade-level results vary widely: 3rd grade is comparatively solid, with 32.6% proficient in ELA (slightly above the district's 31.5%) and 30.2% in math (essentially tied with the district's 30.1%). Fourth grade slips to 17.8% in ELA and 18.2% in math, and 5th grade is the weakest spot, at 14.8% proficiency in ELA, math, and science — well below district and state averages in every subject.
One clear strength is attendance: chronic absenteeism is 28.8%, lower than both the district's 38.9% and the state's 33.5%, though more than one in four students are still chronically absent. The school's state ranking has been volatile — 597 of 710 in 2023–2024, 483 of 706 (32nd percentile, 2 stars) in 2024–2025, then 628 of 709 (11th percentile, 1 star) in 2025–2026. The surrounding district also ranks low, at 106 of 141 with 1 star. In short: strong attendance, near-district early-grade results, but below-state proficiency overall and a weak 5th grade.
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