Summary:
ZIP code 97217 in Portland, Oregon is home to four elementary-level schools — Beach Elementary School (PK–5), Chief Joseph Elementary School (K–5), and Peninsula Elementary School (K–5), all in Portland School District 1J, plus The Ivy School (PK–8), listed under the Oregon Department of Education. All four are small, enrolling between 235 and 295 students.
Academically, Chief Joseph Elementary School stands out, with the strongest all-grade reading (66.4%) and math (61.3%) in the group and the lowest chronic absenteeism at 17.3%, roughly half the district (32.5%) and state (33.5%) rates. Beach Elementary School is the most balanced, near the district in reading and math and above it in science, with steady four-star rankings around the 80th percentile. The Ivy School has the best science results (56.5%) and strong upper grades, including 8th grade science at 66.7% and 7th grade reading at 70.8%, but the lowest math (38.8%). Peninsula Elementary School spends the most per student ($26,581) and has the smallest classes (13.2 students per teacher), yet posts the lowest reading (43.8%) and math (40.5%) and the highest absenteeism (34.2%).
Several patterns are worth noting. All four serve nearly identical free/reduced-lunch populations (about 40–42%), so economic need alone does not explain the wide differences in outcomes, and spending and class size do not predict them either. Attendance tracks loosely with achievement: the school with the lowest absenteeism also has the strongest reading and math. Momentum also differs — Beach is stable, Chief Joseph remains strong after a peak, The Ivy School improved from three to four stars, and Peninsula has slipped from 237th to 294th statewide. Because grade-level results swing widely in these small cohorts, and The Ivy School's PK–8 scores include middle school grades that the K–5 schools do not, single-year comparisons should be read with care.
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