Summary:
ZIP code 97404 in Eugene, Oregon has two middle schools serving grades 6–8 — Kelly Middle School (407 students) and Madison Middle School (398 students) — and both belong to Eugene School District 4J, which ranks in the 84th percentile statewide with 4 stars. The two schools are unusually similar in context: enrollment within 9 students, free/reduced lunch rates within 0.05 percentage points (64.37% and 64.32%), and per-student spending within $335 ($22,853 and $23,188).
Despite that, outcomes differ sharply. Madison Middle School is the standout, holding 3 stars in all three years of its rank history (54th–59th percentile) and posting the strongest score in the data set: 40.4% proficient in 8th-grade science, 3.8 points above the district and 9.8 points above the state. Its ELA results match the state overall and run above district and state in grades 7 and 8. Kelly Middle School is the school of concern, with the only declining trend — its rank slipped back 41 places in the most recent year and its star rating fell from 2 to 1. Kelly's 8th-grade science score of 20% is the lowest figure in the data, 16.6 points below its district and 10.6 points below the state.
Mathematics is the one consistent weakness shared by both schools: Kelly (26.2%) and Madison (24.7%) each trail the state and fall double digits below their district. Interestingly, Kelly has the smaller student–teacher ratio (14.7 versus 17.1) yet scores lower in ELA and science, so class size alone does not explain the gap — and poverty and spending are essentially identical. Both schools do beat district and state chronic-absenteeism benchmarks, though roughly 3 in 10 students at each are chronically absent. In short: a strong district, two very similar schools, and an 11.4-point proficiency gap that the available context data does not account for.
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