[1][2] In 1843 the first school in Oregon City was established on the top floor of Sidney Moss' hotel, The Main Street House although it was only in operation for approximately 12 months.
In 1849 General Joseph Lane, the first Territorial Governor sent a message to the early legislators recommending a system of “free and public schools”.
[3] Shortly after, in 1850 Reverend Dr. George Atkinson recommended building an all-female school on land donated by Dr John McLoughlin.
Reopening 2 years later now called the Oregon City Seminary the newly co-ed school was headed by Rev.
Dr. Atkinson was a force in the education of Clackamas County, working tirelessly through his life to open a total of 88 schools in the still rural area.
[3] After the three years the school moved from the hotel to a building owned by Dr John McLoughlin located in the lower part of town, which the City rented for $8 a month.
Pleasant, Park Place, Holcomb, Crescent, Henrici, Hazeldale, Twilight, Jennings Lodge, Clairmont, and Echo Dell.
The first Oregon City High School building was constructed in 1910 on the corner of 12th and John Adams and opened in September 1911.
With Oregon City continuing to grow more changes where needed and in 2012 the district elected to close two elementary schools.
Barclay Elementary was closed in 1985 and had been functioning as a community school building bringing in rental revenue for the district.
This money when added to state matching grants of between 3.7 and 8 million dollars is planned to be used to upgrade and replace current middle and elementary schools.
Also planned are security overhauls to many of the buildings, adding a lock down system and entry cameras to enhance student safety.
[7] According to the National Center of Education Statistics for the 2017–18 school year the district has 20.83 students for every teacher, which is slightly better that the state average of 22:1.