Stephenson Elementary School

2627 Southwest Stephenson Street

School District

Portland 1j
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Portland School District 1j

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on September 24, 2024

Switched from LOSD and we love it here! Much better for us and especially for my son. The teacher is supportive to no end and I just love the feel of the school. My son has only 13 kids in his class. It’s like a private school and my son is doing marvelously well!
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2024

Unfortunately I’ve had both children come through this school only to be extremely disappointed. Please don’t let the other reviews fool you. Parents are continuously lied to here and the staff does not like to be questioned why they are (or are not) doing something. If you just drop off your kids everyday to have “fun” you will get a sugar-coated version of what they should be getting. Your students WILL be lacking key skills/concepts needed at the middle school level. The leadership at this campus is severely lacking. Just in the last three years alone there have been multiple DHS calls on the school, students have run away from campus without supervision, teachers have been investigated for touching students with high needs and doors are continuously found propped open all around campus during the school day. With the current leadership and lack of accountability my children have suffered and have missed out on so much and the district continues to let it happen. This campus is extremely unsafe for children. There have been letters, community meetings, and even litigation against the administrator. Please be careful.
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2023

Amazing school and community! The teachers are top notch.
Submitted by other on September 15, 2023

My experience at this school was beyond amazing. All of my teachers but ONE were perfect and patient with me. As a special needs student, I didn’t feel isolated or left out at all. This school is perfect. Please go here.
Submitted by parent on January 10, 2019

I cannot overstate how impressed we are with this school. Having two children with special needs is difficult and having to constantly advocate for my children can be draining... but at Stephenson they have an incredible team working for my two. Super impressed by their approach and support they give their non-typical students. The communication from the staff is amazing with a minimum of weekly emails detailing what is being taught and how to incorporate those lessons at home. Thank you to this school from administration down to the classroom aides.
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2018

We have had a great experience at this school. The teachers, principal and office staff are all very friendly and welcoming. My daughter loved her first year there as a 4th grader and is excited about the upcoming year. They have been able to keep class size reasonable and the parents helped to fund a teacher position in order to do so. Great fundraising and community.
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2017

Mr. Galindo (the Principal of Stephenson) leads from the front with compassion, intellect and school pride. The kids at Stephenson are friendly, empathetic and polite. We appreciate the efforts made by teachers and staff, particularly Mr. Seavey, to reinforce an atmosphere of peer respect and kindness. The academic standard at Stephenson is very high and the children there perform exceptionally well. Mr. Galindo has also been very successful in winning grants for the school, including a $1M technology grant last year (2016) which means the kids are getting access to technology in the classrooms, with new imacs and laptops. The population isn't tremendously diverse, but the diversity that is present is well incorporated into the school. The PTA are effective and driven to support constant improvements at the school in the form of new playground equipment, school staffing, etc. We love Stephenson and the teachers, we're very happy our kids are able to attend the school.
Submitted by parent on May 08, 2013

This is a great school if your child is average. Average intelligence, average pace of learning, average social skills, etc. Stepehson's staff and administration has no capability to help children who are either above or below average. Services to help kids catch up academically or to provide special accomodations for learning disabilities are almost non-existent, and is available is window-dressing at best and clearly not a priority of the administration. On the other side of the equation, the TAG program is non-existant and I have seen several instances where classic "gifted" behavior is treated with the same approach/response as disruptive behavior. Good luck trying to explain any of this to the staff/administration, however. Despite their 1970s philosophies on special/gifted education they fancy themselves experts because the school is relatively high performing. This is due mostly to socioeconomic mix and scholastic emphasis from the home, however, and NOT staff competence. Lots of kids do well at Stephenson, but I gaurantee the 5 star ratings below are from the parents whose kids are within a standard deviation of the norm.
Submitted by other on February 08, 2011

I attended Stephenson for two years and it was by far the best school I have ever attended. The teachers are amazing and quickly become your friends. The class was like a big family and welcomed me even though I transferred in the middle of the fourth grade school year. The academics were challenging and we learned a lot more because of the way the teachers handled any troublemakers. I would recommend this school to anyone.
Submitted by parent on December 14, 2010

This school has issues ... there is a reason there have been 5 different principals in such a short turn around.
Submitted by parent on March 30, 2010

My child has attended since kindergarten (in fact I did a huge amount of research when moving to Portland and intentionally moved to a neighborhood within Stephenson's boundaries) and I am actively involved volunteering both in his classrooms and in other capacities needed. Every teacher I've had the pleasure of interacting with helps me understand just why Stephenson is academically superior to other schools, both in and out of the district. In addition, there is huge parental support , not only with PTA and Foundation but simple classroom volunteering as well. The only complaints I've ever heard about the school have come from parents who don't involve themselves in their child/ren's education and expect the teachers to take all the responsibility for the students' successes (or failures). Fortunately with Stephenson those parents are few and far between.
Submitted by parent on March 29, 2010

My child has attended this school since K. On her first day her teacher send her home with a sheet of paper, where she -the teacher- wrote 'I like to play with my bruder'. The facilities are decent, the staff are nice but there are 26 students in her class. Which obviously lends itself to a recipe for disaster.