Joseph Gale Elementary School

Joseph Gale Elementary School is an elementary school of mid-sized scale in Forest Grove, Oregon, overseen by Forest Grove SD 15, educateing 388 students in grades pre-K through 4. That puts it 21% larger than the typical public school in Oregon, which averages around 321 students.

Within Forest Grove SD 15, which oversees 11 schools and 5,692 students, Joseph Gale Elementary School is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Joseph Gale Elementary School reports that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 63% of enrollment. The remainder comes out to 33% White. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 19%.

Looking at school resources, Joseph Gale Elementary School shows 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 14.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.5:1 average. Around 82% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is north of Washington County's rate of about 57%.

After controlling for student poverty, Joseph Gale Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 30.9%, the actual is 20.8%, a residual of -10.1 points.

In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Washington County put the typical household earns roughly $107,772 per year, about 48% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. In all, Washington County runs 136 public schools (combined enrollment of about 79,469 students), of which Joseph Gale Elementary School is one.

Community Alternative Learning Center is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Joseph Gale Elementary School ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 28.4%.

Joseph Gale Elementary School operates from a suburban location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 22%: 496 students in 2018 compared to 388 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 47% to 63% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 20.0:1 in 2018 to 14.5:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.