Summary:
ZIP code 97303 in Keizer, Oregon is home to two public middle schools serving grades 6–8, both part of Salem-Keizer School District 24J: Claggett Creek Middle School (798 students) and Whiteaker Middle School (654 students), for a combined enrollment of 1,452. Both schools share the same district rating — 105th of 141 in Oregon, or the 26th percentile with 1 star — yet they perform quite differently, which makes comparing them directly especially useful for families choosing a school.
Whiteaker Middle School is the stronger performer, ranking 182/371 (51st percentile, 3 stars) in 2025–2026, versus Claggett Creek Middle School at 267/371 (28th percentile, 1 star). Whiteaker's all-grades ELA proficiency is 43.5%, just 0.3 points below the state (43.8%) and 9 points above the district (34.5%); its math proficiency is 30.4%, above the district (24.1%) and 2.5 points below the state (32.9%). Whiteaker beats Claggett Creek in ELA and math in every grade — gaps of +11.0 points in ELA and +6.8 points in math overall. Chronic absenteeism also diverges sharply: Whiteaker 29.7% (below the state's 33.5%) versus Claggett Creek 43.8% (above the district's 43.1% and 10.3 points above the state).
Two important caveats stand out. First, science is a shared weakness: Claggett Creek 17.3% and Whiteaker 17.0%, both below the district (20.9%) and far below the state (30.6%) — Whiteaker's ELA and math advantage does not carry over. Second, poverty and spending don't simply explain results: Whiteaker has slightly higher free/reduced lunch participation (89.14% vs 88.22%), spends $1,087 more per student ($19,759 vs $18,672), and has a higher student-teacher ratio (23.1 vs 21.5), yet posts better outcomes. Rank history shows Whiteaker consistently near the median (47th–52nd percentiles, 2–3 stars), while Claggett Creek remains in the bottom quartile (13th–28th percentiles, 1 star).
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