Rural Dell Elementary School

Rural Dell Elementary School operates as a tight-knit K-5 school in Molalla, Oregon, run under Molalla River SD 35. Current enrollment sits at 251 students spanning grades K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 22% smaller than the state mean of about 321.

Molalla River SD 35 runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 2,546 students. Rural Dell Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Rural Dell Elementary School shows that 69% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school records 25% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 79%.

On the resource side, The school lists 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.7:1. The state averages around 16.5:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 53% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, Rural Dell Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 42.0%; this one delivers 34.5%.

Across the wider county, census data for Clackamas County shows median household income runs about $103,517, roughly 41% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Rural Dell Elementary School is one of 118 public schools in Clackamas County (combined enrollment of about 57,601 students).

Nearest neighbor: Molalla Elementary School, around 2.8 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 3 other public schools cluster around Rural Dell Elementary School. On composite proficiency, Rural Dell Elementary School comes 2nd of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 31.1%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count stayed largely flat: 246 students in 2018 compared to 251 in 2025. The White share of enrollment shrank from 80% to 69% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 20.0:1 in 2018 to 18.7:1 today.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.