Best Public Schools in Zip Code 97868

Zip code 97868 has just two public schools, both in Pilot Rock School District 2: Pilot Rock High School, serving grades 7–12 with 149 students, and Pilot Rock Elementary School, serving grades K–6 with 136 students. There is no separately listed middle school, so middle-grade results sit inside the high school's data, and combined enrollment is 285 students. Both schools serve largely high-poverty populations — free or reduced lunch is 65.77% at the high school and 72.79% at the elementary school — and the district ranks 109th of 141 Oregon districts, at the 23rd percentile with 1 star.

Comparing the two, the high school is the stronger performer academically. In 2025–2026 all-grade proficiency it beats the elementary school in English language arts (36.8% vs 32.5%), math (23.7% vs 15.2%) and science (28.8% vs 13.6%), and it is above the district in all three subjects while the elementary school falls below the district in all three. The high school's brightest results come in 8th grade, where ELA is 43.5% and math 39.1%, both above state; 11th grade math is a clear weakness at 10.7% vs 22.9% statewide. It also reports a 100.0% graduation rate vs 83.0% statewide. The elementary school's lowest points are 4th grade math (11.8% vs 38.9%), 5th grade math (10.0% vs 32.4%) and 5th grade science (13.6% vs 30.8%).

Attendance favors the elementary school: chronic absenteeism is 22.3%, below the district's 27.6% and the state's 33.5%. The high school's 32.4% is slightly better than state but worse than district. The high school spends $26,398 per student against $19,201 at the elementary school, with a lower student-teacher ratio (10.6 vs 13.6). Rankings have been volatile — the high school fell from the 89th percentile (4 stars) to the 30th percentile (2 stars), and the elementary school slipped from the 38th percentile to the 18th percentile (1 star).