Best High Schools in Zip Code 97444

ZIP code 97444 has one high school, Gold Beach Junior/Senior High School, a grades 7–12 school in Central Curry School District 1 serving 188 students in the Gold Beach area. Because it is the only high school in the ZIP, there is no other local high school to compare it with; the useful comparisons are with its district and Oregon. The school serves a high-poverty community: 93.09% of students are eligible for free/reduced lunch, about 175 of 188. It also has high per-student spending of $21,711 and a student-teacher ratio of 14.4, implying roughly 13 teachers. The district is ranked 26 of 141, at the 82nd percentile with 4 stars.

Academically, the school’s clearest strengths are English language arts and science. All-grades ELA proficiency is 59.2%, above the district’s 46.7% and the state’s 43.8%. All-grades science is 48.3%, above the district’s 42.5% and the state’s 30.6%. Middle-school results are especially strong: 7th-grade ELA is 77.8% versus 45.3% statewide, 7th-grade math is 61.1% versus 33.3% statewide, and 8th-grade science is 50.0% versus 27.7% statewide. Eleventh-grade ELA is 64.3% versus 46.0% statewide, and 11th-grade science is 46.4% versus 33.8% statewide. Historically, the school ranked 4th of 258 in 2022–2023 and 9th of 268 in 2023–2024, both 5-star years.

The main concerns are high-school math and graduation. Only 10.0% of 11th graders were proficient in math, compared with 22.9% statewide—a 12.9-point gap. The graduation rate is 67.5%, matching the district but well below the state’s 83.0%, a 15.5-point gap. Chronic absenteeism is 32.9%, slightly better than the district’s 34.9% and the state’s 33.5%, since lower is better. Recent rankings have dropped: 86th of 271 in 2025–2026, 68th percentile, 3 stars. With 188 students, grade-level results can swing from year to year. Overall, this is a small, high-poverty school with strong ELA and science, but it needs support in high-school math and graduation completion.