School District Inquiry

Hi Jennifer -

A couple things - I would suggest purchasing the December 2007 edition of Portland Monthly magazine, which grades all the schools in the Portland Metro area - you can do it here: http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/backissues/ . That way you can make an informed decision about what you want.

I used to live in Laurelhurst and loved it. I am not familiar enough with the school system there, but the elementary school has an A grade - Fernwood (jr high) has a B and I think the high school has a C grade. I'm not going to lie to you - just from watching the news and each election season, the Portland School District in general has a lot of budgetary problems and most certainly political issues.

I am a graduate of the LO school system, but am also familiar with West Linn. Yes, they're good. But they also are expensive communities (West Linn's property taxes are insanely high because they don't benefit from enough industry and business tax - so the money comes from the residents). I would also say that while they have great reputations - they are NOT a good fit if you have a child that doesn't fit in a box. If your child has any sort of special needs - whether it's a learning disability or ADHD, these school systems don't cater too much to that. Ironically...Portland DOES.

If you CAN afford an expensive home in the burbs (a bigger home in Laurelhurst can cost the same amount), but want a neighborhood with restaurants to kind of walk to than I would suggest the Willamette area of West Linn or First Addition in LO.

But there are other great school districts that don't have the reputation - Tualatin/Tigard for instance....
If you want to stay in Portland - I have heard great things about Hillsdale - which is SW Portland.

Good luck!

Hello and welcome!

Portland does have it's problems, but there are also some very good schools. Laurelhurst is good, so is Glencoe and Sunnyside Environmental school. All are near the Laurelhurst park area. They are not tiny schools (ave. class size is about 28) and they don't have all the resources the suburban schools do, but they do have some great urban perks. Glencoe is a K-5, the others are K-8. Woodstock has Mandarin immersion starting in K, Richmond has it for Japanese, and a few schools have the Spanish immersion programs.

Many schools do offer full day K, but it is "fee for service". (eg. half day is free, the other half costs.) Not all PPS schools have full day K, but most do.

I also really, really like Tucker Maxon School. It is a semi private school (pre-k - 5) in SE Portland. I would check them all out and get a feel for each. Good luck.

Hi Jennifer,

I really think you have to look at the schools individually and NOT the district as a whole (however, Hillsboro schools have a harder time passing extra bond measures and frequently shorten the year due to lack of funds). Usually it's best to look at the neighborhoods/specific schools. I would look at how the grounds are kept up, as well as neighboring houses-- graffiti everywhere, lots of junky cars around, overgrown grass, bars on windows, and litter would be red flags to me. These things plus percentage of parent involvement, teacher retention rates, school drop out rates, crime rates and school report cards also are indicators.
I grew up in the Hillsdale area in SW Portland that someone mentioned and I would recommend the schools (Robert Gray and Wilson High School). We now live in Beaverton and were very impressed with West TV Elementary (Ridgewood Elementary was also OK, but we like West TV better) and Cedar Park Middle School. Barnes Elementary does not score as high in the report cards.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!

Every school can have good or bad experiences. I used to live in the Hawthorne area just a few miles from Laurelhurst and my oldest daughter attended the local Portland Public School through 2nd grade until we moved. We had a very good experience with her school. I have friends who are in the Riverdale school district in Lake Oswego (supposedly one of the best) who have opted to put their child in private school. I think the most important aspect of whatever school your child attends is you and your husband. If you are involved and volunteer, you will be happier with the school than if you aren't aware of what happens every day at your child's school. Here's the link to the Portland Public School's Kindergarten information: http://www.kindergarten.pps.k12.or.us/. Good luck!
~P.
Portland Preschool Directory
http://www.portlandpreschooldirectory.com

We moved from CA in 2002 and prior to purchasing our home, we did a fair amount of research on school districts. The bottom line is that there are two top districts in the area, and either are great depending on your preferences for location. Many people will say Lake Oswego schools, which are one of the two top districts, but in fact Forest Park Elementary/Lincoln High School district turns out to have better overall records on student performance and teacher quality (from public records). We looked at both and ended up in Forest Heights area rather than LO because we were a younger couple and we wanted to be closer to downtown as well as just felt this area was a good fit for us. Hope that helps.

Lake Oswego and West Linn are communities with a higher median income and more expensive homes. As a result, the schools are well funded and tend to out perform other areas as you would expect, but don't assume that means they are perfect or problem free.

Do you want a more suburban lifestyle or are you more at home in a more "metro" area. Do you want a new home or an older home with character (which often means only one bathroom). You really need to experience the communities in order to know what is the best fit for your family. Your family personality and core values should direct your choices. You can also live in Wilsonville and be in the West Linn School district.

There are many areas of Portland from which to choose and I would also consider how much time you want to spend commuting to work. We have great mass transit options and easy access to those may also be a plus...especially with current gas prices.

We live in Laurelhurst and love it.My son will be in 2nd grade there this fall. Full day kindergarten is available if you pay tuition (around 240 per month). Half day is free. We love the teachers and the parents are really involved, which is a big reason why its such a great school. Laurelhurst elem is converting to a k-8 school and it has an "A" grade.
We also love the neighborhood and it has easy freeway access so its close to everything.
Good luck with your move!
A.

My husband and I have lived in Portland for almost 2 years, we rented in Milwaukie but just recently moved to Gladstone specifically for the school. Our oldest starts Kindergarten in the fall. I know people who work in the school and have lots of friends who have children in the district and they all love it. You get the advantage of being in the suburbs, if thats what you're looking for, but a small school system. There are only 3 schools, John Wetten Elem. which is K-5, Kraxberger Middle School which is 6-8, and Gladstone High, which is 9-12. Advantage, your kids will stay with the same kids thru the years and not be divided each time they move to a new school and you don't run the risk of district boundaries being changed. Gladstone is a good school, they score well, and are consistently above national averages. They only have half day K, but do offer full day for a price, I believe $360 a month if you don't qualify for any type of scholarship. The district is also in the midst of renovating a building that will combine K and preschool/Head Start programs, making the elementary 1-4. The new building is across from the high school so that high school kids interested in childcare/teaching are able to get some hands on training. This facility is one of the first of its kind in Oregon from what I have been told. So there's my 2-cents :-)

I also second another mom's advice on getting the back-issue of Portland Monthly. It was a good issue about the schools. Good Luck!

I'm not sure about whole day vs half day kindergarten, but we moved to Beaverton specifically for the schools. It's also on the MAX train line and my husband finds it an easy commute to downtown.

We moved from Portland to N. Clackamas, we did not want our kids going to Portland schools. We like our district.

Julie and Patty have given you great information. I won't expand much on that.

My daughter went to and now my granddaugter goes to Laurelhurst Elementary School. I have lived in the district for about 30 years. However, the school district boundaries are being changed and I'm no longer in the district. My neighborhood will be in the Alameda Elementary School District. You'll want to double check which school district you're actually in based on your address.

I have been very pleased with Laurelhurst Elementary School. Everything is better in many of the Portland School Districts because the parents have formed foundations which earn money to pay the the things that POrtland Public Schools can no longer afford. Laurelhurst Elementary has full time P.E., music and library teachers as do Irvington and Alameda. I think the schools in poorer areas which are in the SE, N and further NE aren't so fortunate but I'm not experienced with those schools.

I've been a voluteer for playground duty at Laurelhurst for the past 3 years. The teachers do a terrific job with the kids. The educational materials cover a broad range of subjects. The entire staff including the administrative employees are professionally friendly and helpful.

The school now has a guidance counselor because the entire district is closing some schools and expanding the elementary schools to eventually include 8 grades. This past year the 6th grade stayed at Laurelhurst. The counselor is there to help make this a smooth transition.

After the counselor became aware that some of the kids in the lower grades were having difficulties getting along with others or in the classroom she started a "friendship" group that lasts 6-8 weeks. The focus was on how to deal with stress. My second grade granddaughter, who had difficulty focusing and finishing work, learned some Yoga. She also had the opportunity for help problem solving with the counselor. She was doing much better as the year progressed.

Whether or not this is a good match for you depends on more than just the school district. I, too, have heard that the suburban districts have more money and therefore more programs.
Laurelhurst is definitely urban. It's located a couple of miles from the city center. I had no children when I bought my house. My choice was based on my love for older well maintained homes and wish to be within walking distance of services.

The Irvington neighborhood located to the west of mine is gathering data to make their neighborhood a historic district. I've volunteered for years at The Irvington Historic Tour and am very impressed by the beautiful homes and the praise that I hear regarding the Irvington Elementary School. Both neighborhoods have mature plantings with very large trees. The streets have sidewalks and are in good condition.

Parents are very involved in both districts which does make a big difference in the quality of education.

The main drawback in both neighborhoods is the increased home values. As a retired person I could not afford buying this house now even tho it's a small house. My neighbor's house, the same size as mine, sold a couple of years ago for $300,000. The couple had lived there for 40 or so years and done very little work on it. Now that it's been renovated in a basic way (does not have all the modern amenities) I'm guessing it would sell for around $400,000. It does now have a heat pump and so is air conditioned in the summer. But it doesn't have a dishwasher or a laundry room. Laundry is done in the basement which has only been painted. It's just a basic house, comfortable but not the norm in this area. There are quite a few smaller homes that do sell for less than $650,000 but one has to look to find them.

The house behind me, a large 3 story traditional home, sold for over a million dollars a couple of years ago. It has been updated while maintaining its historically correct appearance.

My cousin and her husband moved here from Alberquerque, NM, a couple of years ago. They came up several times to look at houses and bought just outside the Parkrose neighborhood. They are planning to sell in the future because they've found that other neighborhoods are more attractive to them. Although they spent several days looking at various neighborhoods they say that they didn't really get a good feel for the whole area while visiting. They say that if they were to do it over again they would rent first.

Welcome to Portland area. It's a great place to live.