Clemens Primary School

As a low-enrollment elementary-level community in Philomath, Oregon, Clemens Primary School caters to 165 students from grades K through 1, one of the schools within Philomath SD 17J. Enrollment runs roughly 49% leaner than the state mean of about 321.

Within Philomath SD 17J, which oversees 7 schools and 1,635 students, Clemens Primary School is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Clemens Primary School logs that 82% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder is composed of 11% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.7:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 16.5:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 49% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is lower than Benton County's rate of about 60%.

Across the wider county, census data for Benton County shows median household earnings sit near $77,702, about 54% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. Across Benton County's 26 public schools (combined enrollment of about 9,268 students), Clemens Primary School is one campus in the mix.

Philomath Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. 7 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Looking at the recent track record. Clemens Primary School's enrollment has shrank 9% since 2018, when it stood at 182 (now 165). Over the same period, the White share declined from 86% to 82%. Class-load math has fell: from 19.3:1 in 2018 to 16.7:1 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for Clemens Primary School typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.