Schools in Zip Code 97360

ZIP code 97360 covers the Mill City area of Oregon and lists three schools — all in Santiam Canyon School District 129J — serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade, though there is no stand-alone middle school in the ZIP. The three are Oregon Charter Academy (alternative, K–12, 2,345 students), Santiam Junior/Senior High School (grades 6–12, 319 students), and Santiam Elementary School (K–5, 249 students). Total listed enrollment is 2,913, and the charter school alone accounts for 80.5% of it — more than four times the two traditional schools combined (568 students). The district is ranked 61st of 141 in Oregon, at the 57th percentile with 3 stars.

Academically, the three schools look very different. Oregon Charter Academy posts the strongest results, beating both district and state in all-grade ELA (50.3%), math (44.0%), and science (47.9%), with especially high 11th-grade scores. Santiam Elementary is mixed: math (35.2%) is slightly above the state's 32.9%, but ELA (36.9%) and science (17.4%) fall below district and state, and 5th-grade math is 25.0%. Its rank did improve from 538th of 706 to 448th of 709, moving from 1 star to 2 stars. Santiam Junior/Senior High is far below both, with ELA at 15.7%, math at 13.3%, and science under 5%; its state rank is 270th of 271 (0 stars).

Other measures tell a different story. Santiam Jr/Sr High has a 93.2% graduation rate, above the district's 81.7% and the state's 83.0%, despite low test scores. Chronic absenteeism is high everywhere: Santiam Elementary 43.2%, Santiam Jr/Sr High 39.4%, and Oregon Charter Academy 37.2%, all above the state's 33.5%. Per-student spending varies widely — $1,608 at the charter versus $17,973 and $14,782 at the two traditional schools — and the charter's student-teacher ratio is 20.8 versus 13.5 and 13.6. The charter's free/reduced-lunch rate is not reported, so its poverty context is unknown.