5 Highly Rated Schools in Portland, Oregon

Updated 03/2024.

Many people decide to purchase a home based on the quality of the schools in the area. In fact, school rankings strongly impact home values, and buyers have reported compromising on certain “must haves” when picking their next home to ensure their kids can attend the best schools possible.

How Can You Find Information on Portland Schools?

The internet is full of information, which can make it hard to sort out legitimate and helpful content. There are two often trusted sites for school rankings: Greatschools.org and the Oregon Department of Education, specifically the latter’s “At-A-Glance School and District Profiles.”

Greatschools is an independent non-profit organization with a mission to help parents provide the best possible education for their kids. Their methods and criteria to provide the most accurate information are always evolving, and rather than focusing only on test scores, they also collect data on a variety of other data points. They look at student progress over the course of a school year, college readiness ratings for high schools, and equity ratings to let parents know which schools are doing well when it comes to the development of disadvantaged kids, and more. While they’re not the last word on school rankings, they’re an excellent resource when you’re trying to sort out all the facets that go into finding a new home. Learn more about how greatschools.com acquires and assesses data for school rankings.

Every year, the Oregon Department of Education publicizes its At-A-Glance School and District Profiles. These are report cards, of sorts, offering details about demographics, graduation rates, and more, like how long the principal has been at the school and whether the school employs teaching assistants, for example. Distance learning in response to COVID changed the reports in the past couple of years, but they’re still a good way to assess schools’ performances.

Top 5 Highly-Rated Schools in Portland

These two sources provide a lot of information to help you determine what school is best for your family, including teacher retention, student-teacher ratios, test scores, and more. Below are five schools that rated high on these two sources; the data below is taken from their sites (updated 2024).

Winterhaven School

Location: Southeast Portland in Brooklyn neighborhood
Grade Levels Served: K-8
Number of Students: 310
Student to Teacher Ratio: 21:1
GreatSchools Ranking: 9
ODE Profile: 86% teacher retention, same principal for at least 3 years

Skyline School

Location: Northwest Portland in Forest Park neighborhood
Grade Levels Served: K-8
Number of Students: 212
Student to Teacher Ratio: 17:1
GreatSchools Ranking: 9
ODE Profile: 90% teacher retention

Ainsworth Elementary School

Location: Southwest Portland in Goose Hollow neighborhood
Grade Levels Served: K-5
Number of Students: 589
Student to Teacher Ratio: 22:1
GreatSchools Ranking: 9
ODE Profile: 85% teacher retention, same principal for at least 3 years

Duniway Elementary School

Location: Southeast Portland in Eastmoreland neighborhood
Number of Students: 418
Student to Teacher Ratio: 20:1
GreatSchools Ranking: 10
ODE Profile: 90% teacher retention, same principal for at least 3 years

Grant High School

Location: Northeast Portland in Grant Park neighborhood
Number of Students: 2,115
Student to Teacher Ratio: 20:1
GreatSchools Ranking: 8
ODE Profile: 90% teacher retention

Signs of a Great School

We’ve talked about the high standards used by our sources to judge each school in our list, but let’s take a moment to break down what makes a school stand out. There are several factors to keep in mind, from staff retention to student-to-teacher ratio and more, so let’s break down these factors. Not only can you use these factors to narrow down your school choices, but they can also act as a guideline to help you choose the right school for your family.

Student-to-Teacher Ratio: One teacher can only split their attention so many ways. A low student-to-teacher ratio indicates that teachers can spend more time helping individual students, leading to focused learning and attention in classrooms. Low student-to-teacher ratios allow teachers the time to take a vested interest in each student and how they’re learning. On the other hand, a high student-to-teacher ratio can lead to overworked and underpaid teachers, which can impact student’s learning opportunities.
Quality of Facilities: While not on the bullet-point list above, many older Portland school buildings have struggled with safety issues over the past few years. Be sure to take a close look at the buildings where you student will be spending most of their time.
Teacher Retention: Not only does it help to have consistent educators throughout your child’s learning experience, but a school that retains its employees shows organization, great leadership, and professional growth opportunities for teachers. A school with a high turnover rate may have funding issues, or be a poor workplace environment, which can impact the overall atmosphere of the school. Looking for a school with high employee retention can be a good subtle marker toward greatness.

There are other signs of a great school to consider, such as overall cleanliness, after-school programs, accelerated learning programs, and more. You can find out about these factors during a school visit, by checking out the school website or scheduling a meeting with the school’s leadership to learn more. Remember, while you should always take into consideration things like distance when choosing a school for your children, the right school will have several factors going for it, and may even require a bit of a drive. However, choosing the right school can have lasting impacts on your children and your family, so taking all factors into consideration before making a choice is always a good decision.

Can Your Realtor Help You Find the Best Schools?

No. The Fair Housing Act prevents Realtors from “steering” clients toward a certain school district to prevent discrimination. So, it’s important for buyers to gather the best information about schools in the areas they’re interested in. Realtors can only point you to sources of information.

Check out the great sources of school information at GreatSchools and the Oregon Department of Education’s report cards as well as the school map on Portlandmaps.com to find the school district of a home you’re considering.

When you’re ready to jump in, contact our top 1% buyer’s team! We’ve been helping people buy homes in the Portland metro area for over 20 years. With our experience and knowledge of the area, we have no doubt we can help you find your dream home. Call us at 503-773-0000 or chat with the bot on our site. We look forward to working with you!