Schools in Zip Code 97444

ZIP code 97444 covers the Gold Beach area of the Oregon coast and contains just two schools, both in Central Curry School District 1: Riley Creek Elementary School (PK–6) and Gold Beach Junior/Senior High School (7–12), together serving 400 students across the full PK–12 pipeline. Each school is the only option at its level, and the elementary feeds directly into the junior/senior high. About 92% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, per-student spending runs near $20,950, and roughly one in three students is chronically absent at each school.

The two schools are heading in different directions. Gold Beach Junior/Senior High School is the academic engine, scoring 59.2% in English language arts and 48.3% in science — both well above the state — with standout 7th grade results (77.8% ELA, 61.1% math). But its state ranking slipped from the 98th percentile (5 stars) two years ago to the 68th percentile (3 stars), and its 67.5% graduation rate trails Oregon's 83.0%, meaning roughly one in three students does not graduate on this measure. Riley Creek Elementary School has sat in the bottom 40% of Oregon elementary schools at 2 stars for three straight years, below the state in ELA and math, with 3rd grade math (50%) its only measure above the state.

One pattern stands out across both buildings: math proficiency falls sharply as students move through each grade band, ending near 1-in-10 in both 6th grade (10.7%) and 11th grade (10%). Because these are different groups of students in a single year, it is a flag worth watching rather than proof of decline within one group of children. Chronic absenteeism is the one concern the schools share, and the high school has both a lower student-teacher ratio (14.4 vs. 16.0) and higher per-student spending than the elementary.