Best High Schools in Zip Code 97801

ZIP code 97801 has three high schools serving grades 9–12 — Pendleton High School, Nixyaawii Community School, and Hawthorne Alternative High School — all in Pendleton School District 16. Together they enroll 908 students, though the district overall ranks 110th of 141 districts (22nd percentile, 1 star). Enrollment is highly concentrated: Pendleton High School has 763 students (about 84% of the group), while Nixyaawii Community School has 89 and Hawthorne Alternative High School has 56.

Pendleton High School is the standout on several measures: a 94.6% graduation rate (above the district’s 89.7% and the state’s 83.0%), grade-11 science proficiency of 45.3% (well above the state’s 33.8%), and a rank rise from 174th of 270 (36th percentile, 2 stars) to 117th of 271 (57th percentile, 3 stars). Still, its chronic absenteeism is 37.2%, above the district’s 33.3% and the state’s 33.5%, and its grade-11 math score of 20.8% sits below the state’s 22.9%.

Nixyaawii Community School shows the sharpest swings, falling from 65th of 270 (76th percentile, 4 stars) to 257th of 271 (5th percentile, 0 stars); with 89 students, small changes can move results a lot. Its ELA proficiency is 28.6%, its math proficiency is under 5%, and its science proficiency is 6.3%. It has the lowest student-teacher ratio (12.4) but spends far less per student ($5,147 vs. $19,115). Hawthorne Alternative High School faces compounding challenges: 259th of 271 (4th percentile, 0 stars), a 72.2% graduation rate, 94.2% chronic absenteeism, 9.1% ELA and 18.2% science proficiency, a suppressed math score (—), the highest student-teacher ratio (31.1), and the lowest per-student spending ($4,823). As an alternative school, it serves a different student population, so comparisons should be made cautiously.