Summary:
ZIP code 97741 covers Madras, Oregon, where students in grades 9–12 attend two high schools: Madras High School, with 768 students, and Bridges High School, with 62 students. Both belong to Jefferson County School District 509J, which is ranked 130 of 141 Oregon districts, at the 8th percentile with 0 stars. Together the two schools enroll about 830 high schoolers, and roughly 90–92% of students at each qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Madras High School is the larger, more comprehensive option and the stronger performer on key outcomes. Its 95.9% graduation rate is 4.2 points above the district and 12.9 points above the state, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 45.7% is high but far below Bridges. Bridges High School faces steeper challenges: a 76.6% graduation rate, chronic absenteeism of 91.1% (57.6 points above the state), and a 2025–2026 rank of 267 of 271 at the 1st percentile with 0 stars. Bridges spends $41,554 per student — about $19,553 more than Madras's $22,001 — with a student-teacher ratio of 8.2 versus Madras's 23.6. Because Bridges has only 62 students, its rates can swing widely from year to year and may serve a different student population or mission.
Test proficiency is low at both schools. Madras posts 26.5% in ELA, 7.7% in math, and 18.2% in science; Bridges posts 16.7%, 5.6%, and 8.3%. All fall below state averages of 43.8%, 32.9%, and 30.6%, with math the weakest subject district-wide. Madras has ranked in the bottom 8–14% of Oregon high schools for three years, and Bridges at or near the very bottom. Families should weigh Madras's stronger graduation and attendance record against persistently low test scores, and recognize that both schools sit inside a high-poverty, low-ranked district where math is a particular concern.
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