Schools in Zip Code 97530

ZIP code 97530 has three small, high-poverty public schools — Jacksonville Elementary School, Ruch Outdoor Community School, and Applegate Elementary School — all labeled elementary in this data, though Ruch and Applegate serve grades K–8. They enroll 617 students total, from 92 at Applegate to 328 at Jacksonville, across Medford School District 549C (Jacksonville and Ruch) and Three Rivers/Josephine County School District (Applegate). Every school's free/reduced-lunch rate runs between 87.31% and 97.83%, so all three serve mostly low-income families. Test scores and rankings are for 2025–2026; absenteeism, lunch, spending, and staffing figures are from 2024–2025.

Jacksonville is the academic leader: 55.5% proficient in ELA, 60.9% in math, and 48.9% in science, all above district and state averages, ranking 112th of 709 Oregon schools (84th percentile, 4 stars). Its trend has cooled, slipping from the 93rd percentile and 5 stars in 2023–2024 to 84th and 4 stars now. Applegate is the efficiency and climate standout — the smallest school, the highest poverty rate at 97.83%, yet 53.4% ELA and 50.0% math, a 76th percentile rank with 4 stars (up from the 70th–71st percentile previously), the lowest chronic absenteeism at 28.2%, and the lowest student-teacher ratio at 13.1. Ruch ranks 265th (63rd percentile, 3 stars) with 49.6% ELA, 39.5% math, and 34.5% science — above state averages, but behind the other two in math and science, with the highest absenteeism (37.4%) and the lowest per-student spending ($19,536).

Three patterns stand out. All three schools beat state averages in every aggregate subject despite very high poverty. Science is the weakest subject at each school, trailing its own ELA and math; Applegate (33.3%) and Ruch (34.5%) fall well behind Jacksonville (48.9%). Absenteeism splits sharply too, with Applegate's 28.2% versus Ruch's 37.4% — a 9.2 percentage-point gap between two K–8 schools with similar poverty levels. Spending varies widely as well: Jacksonville spends $29,276 per student, about $9,740 more than Ruch. Both districts rank near the 50th–52nd percentile, so all three schools currently outperform their district's overall standing. Some grade-level scores are suppressed for privacy and should be treated as unknown, not as weaknesses.