Childs Way Charter School

Childs Way Charter School is a small combined-grade school in Dorena, Oregon, one of the schools in South Lane SD 45J3. The school's 121 students are in kindergarten through 12. Statewide, combined schools in Oregon average about 384 students each.

The 9 schools in South Lane SD 45J3 enroll 2,697 students altogether, Childs Way Charter School among them.

About 84% of the student body at Childs Way Charter School is White. The rest of enrollment is 6% multiracial, 4% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 2% Native American. The White share in Lane County as a whole is similar, at about 81%. Childs Way Charter School's diversity index is 27%, against a US figure of 70%.

A ratio of 57.9:1 comes from the school's 2.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 22.5:1 average for combined schools in Oregon.

Childs Way Charter School is located in Lane County, where the median household income is $71,544, 34% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Childs Way Charter School is one of 117 public schools in the county.

Dorena School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.2 miles away.

Its location is classified as Rural: Distant by the National Center for Education Statistics. Childs Way Charter School holds a charter, making it a public charter school.

Federal records list enrollment at Childs Way Charter School as 47 in 2020-21 and 121 in 2024-25. A change that size can reflect a shift in the grades the school serves as well as a change in students. There were more students per teacher in 2024-25 (57.9:1) than in 2020-21 (15.7:1).

Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.