Best Public Schools in Zip Code 97527

ZIP code 97527 contains seven schools serving 2,761 students across a complete K–12 pipeline: four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school, divided between Grants Pass School District 7 and Three Rivers/Josephine County School District. Poverty levels are high across the board (roughly 70% to 100% free or reduced lunch), and per-student spending ranges from $16,477 to $21,541. Taken together, these schools perform slightly above the state average in English language arts and math but slightly below it in science.

The standout is Redwood Elementary School, with the area's best combined academics — 52.4% reading and 45.7% math proficiency — plus by far the lowest chronic absenteeism at 19.4%. Fruitdale Elementary School has the highest math proficiency here (50.0%) despite 100% free or reduced lunch, the smallest classes (15:1), and the most spending per student. South Middle School, the largest school at 610 students, is the highest-rated middle school and climbed from the 56th to the 73rd percentile in one year. Madrona Elementary School made the biggest single-year jump, from the 19th to the 42nd percentile.

Hidden Valley High School is the area's biggest contradiction: the lowest math proficiency (12.7%) alongside an 87.7% graduation rate, above both its district and the state. Math is the shared weak spot. The ZIP's elementaries average 55.5% in 3rd grade (14.2 points above the state) but only 26.5% in 5th grade (5.9 points below). In the Three Rivers pipeline, elementary math of about 43% falls to 20.9% at Lincoln Savage Middle School; the Grants Pass pipeline drops much less, from about 43% to 38.9% at South Middle. Chronic absenteeism is below the state rate at six of the seven schools.