Central High School

Located at 1530 Monmouth St, in Independence, Oregon, Central High School is a high-enrollment 9-12 campus that instructs 1,008 students (grades 9 through 12), overseen by Central SD 13J. By comparison, Oregon's public schools average about 630 students each, so Central High School sits 60% bigger than that benchmark.

Central High School is one of 5 schools operated by Central SD 13J, a district that hosts 3,050 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Central High School lists that 49% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school logs 44% White, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Polk County as a whole is about 16% Hispanic, so the school skews considerably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Central High School shows 47 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 21.5:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 19.8:1 average. An estimated 94% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Polk County (around 84%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Central High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 26.0%, the actual is 16.7%, a residual of -9.3 points.

In the broader community, census data for Polk County shows median household income runs about $85,118, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. In all, Polk County runs 24 public schools (combined enrollment of about 11,121 students), of which Central High School is one.

The closest other public school is Talmadge Middle School, roughly 0.2 miles away. Within five miles, there are 4 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Central High School comes 8th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 25.0%.

Central High School operates from a town-center location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count showed little movement: 995 students in 2018 compared to 1,008 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 52% to 44% across the same window.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.