Jackson Middle School

Jackson Middle School is an intermediate school of moderately sized scale in Portland, Oregon, one of the schools within Portland SD 1J, teacheing 715 students in grades 6 through 8. That puts it 45% larger than the typical public school in Oregon, which averages around 494 students.

Portland SD 1J runs 86 schools in total, collectively educating 41,894 students. Jackson Middle School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Jackson Middle School records that White students make up the majority at 66%. Beyond that, the school records 12% multiracial, 11% Hispanic, 7% Black. That composition is broadly in line with Multnomah County as a whole.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Jackson Middle School has 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 19.3:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 62% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Multnomah County (around 75%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Jackson Middle School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 38.6%; this one delivers 58.7%, a residual of +20.1 points.

In the surrounding community, census data for Multnomah County shows median household earnings sit near $88,766, about 49% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Multnomah County runs 169 public schools (combined enrollment of about 81,096 students), of which Jackson Middle School is one.

Markham Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Jackson Middle School. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Jackson Middle School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 63.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area.

Five-year trend. Jackson Middle School's enrollment has rose 8% since 2018, when it stood at 659 (now 715). Over the same period, the White share shrank from 73% to 66%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 20.6:1 in 2018 to 19.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.