Best Public Schools in Zip Code 97351

The 97351 zip code area is home to three underperforming schools - Central High School, Talmadge Middle School, and Independence Elementary School - all part of the Central School District 13J. These schools consistently rank in the bottom half of their respective school types statewide, with declining performance over the past three years.

Academically, all three schools perform significantly below state averages in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science proficiency. For example, Central High School's 11th-grade proficiency rates range from just 7.1% in Math to 25.2% in ELA, compared to state averages of 20.3% and 44.4%, respectively. Similarly, Talmadge Middle School and Independence Elementary School struggle to meet grade-level standards across the board.

Socioeconomic factors may be contributing to the schools' challenges, as they all serve a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 67.76% to 70.12%. Additionally, the chronic absenteeism rate is 34.3% across all three schools, significantly higher than the state average. Despite the schools' low performance, they appear to be spending more per student than the state average, suggesting that the issue may not be solely a matter of funding, but rather how those resources are being utilized to support student success.