Summary:
ZIP code 97633 — the Merrill area of Klamath County, Oregon — contains a single public high school, Lost River High School, a small rural building serving 242 students in grades 7 through 12 within the Klamath County School District. Because the building combines middle and high school grades, its grade-level results matter more than its overall averages, and there is no second school in the ZIP to compare against.
Lost River's strongest results are in finishing school and showing up. Its graduation rate is 97.4%, well above the district's 86.7% and the state's 83.0%, and chronic absenteeism is 19.2% — far lower than the district's 31.0% and the state's 33.5%. Eleventh-grade English is the standout academic number: 85.7% proficiency versus 46.0% statewide. These outcomes are especially notable given that 91.74% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school ranks 87th of 271 Oregon high schools (68th percentile, 3 stars), placing it in the top third of the state even though its own district ranks 45th percentile. That said, 2024-2025 saw a spike to 45th of 270 (83rd percentile, 4 stars) that has since receded, so that peak looks like an outlier rather than a new baseline.
Math and science are the consistent soft spots: math trails the state by 6.0 points and science by 7.1 points overall, and 11th-grade science sits 15.9 points below the district. The sharpest internal split is in English — 11th grade at 85.7% versus 8th grade at 26.8%, a 58.9-point gap between two different cohorts in the same building. Per-student spending is $22,704 with a 16.1 student-teacher ratio, reflecting the cost structure of a small rural school.
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