Summary:
ZIP code 97227 in Portland contains only two public schools — Harriet Tubman Middle School (grades 6–8, 329 students) and Boise-Eliot Elementary School (grades PK–5, 313 students) — both part of Portland School District 1J, and there is no high school here, so local students leave the area for grades 9–12.
The two schools are near-twins on resources but opposites in results. Per-student spending differs by under 4% ($27,057 versus $26,115) and student-teacher ratios by only half a student (13.6 versus 14.1). Yet Harriet Tubman is a 4-star school ranked 64th of 371 Oregon middle schools (83rd percentile) that beats the state in every subject tested, while Boise-Eliot is a 0-star school ranked 658th of 709 elementary schools (7th percentile) that trails the state in every subject. Proficiency gaps between them run 28–30 percentage points. Tubman has climbed 29 percentile points over two years; Boise-Eliot has stayed essentially flat at the bottom.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated at both schools but far more severe at Boise-Eliot (56.9% versus 36.2%), where well over half of students are chronically absent. Boise-Eliot's oldest students are its furthest behind: 5th-grade math proficiency falls to 9.1 and science sits at 9.4. Both schools score below district averages even though the district carries a 5-star rating — a reminder that district-wide ratings can mask large differences between individual schools. Keep in mind that only one year of test data is available, enrollment-derived figures are approximations, and Boise-Eliot's reported 107.03% free/reduced-lunch figure is a reporting artifact best read as a signal of very high need.
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