Summary:
Zip code 97219 contains nine public schools — six elementary, one middle, and two high schools enrolling about 4,454 students — divided between Portland School District 1J (seven schools) and Riverdale School District 51J (two), both of which rank among Oregon's top districts. This is a consistently high-performing pocket of the state: every school in the area scores above the state averages in ELA (43.8%), math (32.9%), and science (30.6%), and the average school here sits around the 93rd percentile statewide, with six of the nine earning five stars.
The academic standouts are Riverdale Grade School, ranked 5th of 709 elementary schools with 85.7% ELA and 79.6% math, and Rieke Elementary School, ranked 7th of 709 and posting the area's top elementary science score at 75.9%. Stephenson Elementary School (23rd) and Markham Elementary School (61st, up from 168th a few years ago) round out a strong Portland elementary group, alongside Capitol Hill Elementary School and Maplewood Elementary School. At the secondary level, Riverdale High School ranks 4th of 271 high schools with a 100% graduation rate, while Jackson Middle School is 24th of 371.
Families should note real differences within this high-performing group. Chronic absenteeism ranges widely, from 10.2% at Stephenson to 38.0% at the area's largest school, Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School. Math generally trails ELA, with Riverdale High (51.6% math versus 83.9% ELA) and Ida B. Wells-Barnett (36.5% versus 59.8%) showing the widest gaps; Maplewood is the exception, with math above ELA. Spending and class size don't track results simply — Riverdale Grade has the lowest spending at $19,491 yet the best ELA and math, and Rieke has the largest classes at a 20.1 student-teacher ratio yet remains top-ranked. Free/reduced-lunch rates aren't reported for Markham or the two Riverdale schools, so poverty context can't be compared there.
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