School districts and new-build geography in Clackamas County

For families buying new construction, school district is often a top-three decision factor. New-construction communities, by geographic necessity, sit on the edges of districts — frequently right at boundary lines. That creates two things to be careful about: current assignment (which school is actually assigned to the specific address) and future assignment (what happens at a boundary review).

Here's what to know for the major Clackamas County districts that overlap with new-construction activity.

West Linn-Wilsonville School District (WLWV)

WLWV serves Wilsonville, parts of West Linn, and a portion of Tualatin. New-construction communities in this district include Frog Pond (where Miyabi sits) and several adjacent neighborhoods.

The Frog Pond area is served by Frog Pond Primary School (K-5) at the elementary level, then Inza R. Wood Middle School and Wilsonville High School. The district is well-regarded — high test scores, strong AP enrollment, a competitive athletics program at WHS.

Watch-out: Some Wilsonville communities are still being added to capacity-planning at the elementary level. Boundary adjustments are possible. The district publishes its current attendance area maps and has held public boundary-review sessions. Confirm current assignment for the specific address before assuming.

Resale implication: WLWV has a strong reputation that supports resale value, especially for the elementary-school years. Families specifically targeting Frog Pond Primary make a real difference in resale demand for homes in its current attendance area.

North Clackamas School District (NCSD)

NCSD serves Milwaukie, Happy Valley, Damascus, and parts of southeast Portland. It's a large district — over 17,000 students — with significant variation in school quality across its footprint.

Copper Heights (Milwaukie) falls inside NCSD. Specific elementary assignment depends on the address. Common Milwaukie-area elementary schools include Riverside, Whitcomb, Linwood, and Lewelling, each with their own attendance boundaries.

Watch-out: NCSD's geographic spread means school assignment varies significantly within the district. A home in Happy Valley pulls a different elementary school than a home a few miles away in Milwaukie. Don't assume "in NCSD" means a specific school — verify the address-level assignment.

Resale implication: Specific NCSD elementary schools have stronger demand than others. Buyers tracking school assignment carefully sometimes pay a small premium for homes assigned to higher-demand elementary schools within the same district.

Oregon City School District

Oregon City School District covers Oregon City and Beavercreek. New-construction activity here has historically been moderate, but several new communities have come online in the last few years.

Elementary schools in the district include Beavercreek, Holcomb, John McLoughlin, Jennings Lodge (which is technically in another district — Gladstone — but services some Oregon City addresses), and others depending on geography.

Watch-out: Oregon City is geographically large and the district boundary intersects with Gladstone School District in ways that surprise buyers. A home with an Oregon City mailing address may or may not be in OCSD.

Gresham-Barlow School District

Gresham-Barlow serves Gresham and parts of east Multnomah County. Sunset Village (when it opens — see our Sunset Village page) will fall in this district.

The district has a mix of school quality across its footprint. East Gresham elementaries tend to have stronger reputations than some of the central-Gresham options.

Centennial School District

Centennial serves parts of Gresham and east Portland (around Centennial Park). A smaller district but worth knowing about — some new-construction communities on the Gresham/Portland border can fall in either Gresham-Barlow or Centennial depending on the exact address.

How to verify assignment

Three steps to confirm current school assignment for any specific new-construction address:

Use the district's online address lookup tool. Most districts publish a "where does my address go to school" search. WLWV, NCSD, and Gresham-Barlow all have one. The tool returns the currently assigned elementary, middle, and high school.

Confirm with the district directly. Email or call the district's transportation or enrollment office with the specific address. They'll give you the official assignment in writing.

Read recent boundary review minutes. Most districts post school board minutes online. Look for the last 12–18 months of boundary discussions. If your address's school is named in those discussions, there's a reasonable chance of change in the next few years.

Boundary review is real

School boundaries change. New construction frequently triggers boundary review at the elementary level (and sometimes middle or high) because adding new homes adds students who need school assignment.

Buyers who absolutely need a specific elementary school for a specific child should be cautious about assuming the current assignment will hold through 5th grade. The current assignment is the current assignment. The future one might be different.

The play, if a specific school is non-negotiable:

Verify the current assignment.

Check whether the district has plans for boundary review.

Understand that if review happens and your assignment changes, in-district transfer options are usually available but may involve transportation logistics.

Build a fallback plan in case the assignment shifts.

What Kaz watches

Kaz tracks district boundary reviews for the new-construction communities she covers and flags potential changes to buyers before they commit to a specific lot in a specific community. School district sensitivity is one of the most common buyer-side factors in Portland-metro new-construction decisions, and it's the kind of detail the on-site agent is often unaware of (because they're focused on selling the home, not tracking school board agendas).

If school assignment is in your top three considerations, raise it with Kaz on the first call. She'll route you to communities where current assignment matches what you want and flag any boundary risk she's aware of.