Class of 2025: Growing up in Oregon schools follows seven students on their 13-year journey through Oregon’s public schools. The film demonstrates how the state’s education system fails to adequately serve all students and explores why the state fell far short of its goal to have 100% of students graduate high school, starting in the year 2025.

For a quick summary of issues and conclusions from Class of 2025: Growing up in Oregon schools, watch a 10-minute “short cut” here:

Watch the full Class of 2025: Growing up in Oregon schools documentary here.

An hour-long documentary can only cover so much of a 13-year reporting project. Explore more Class of 2025 content below.

Dive deeper — the issues

• 40+40+20 = 100% of students graduating high school
• • The idea for the Class of 2025 started out of a goal set by Gov. John Kitzhaber that by 2025, 40% of young Oregonians would earn a four-year degree, 40% would earn a two-year degree or certificate, with 20% earning at least a high school diploma or GED. . To learn more about 40-40-20, read A 2025 check in with Oregon’s ambitious education goal, 40-40-20.
• “You can’t graduate if you’re not here.”
• • In the years after the pandemic, chronic absenteeism - missing more than 10% or more of school days — soared. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Oregon was the state with the worst chronic absenteeism in the country in the 2022-2023 school year. To learn more about chronic absenteeism, read Is Oregon doing enough to get students to go to school?, These teens were missing too much school. Here’s what it took to get them back, and Class of 2025 students struggle with attendance.
  • Since 2020, Oregon’s public school enrollment has dropped by more than 37,000 students. To learn more about declining enrollment in Oregon, read Oregon’s new normal: Declining public school enrollment.

Build relationships

• • Strong relationships are one way students can feel more connected and engaged with school. To learn more about the importance of relationships between students and staff, read The teachers who shaped the Class of 2025.
• Make school the place students want to be
• • One way to make school a place students want to be is by increasing access to career technical education courses, where students can try on future careers while still in high school. To learn more about connecting students with careers, read As graduation gets closer, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ takes on new meaning for Class of 2025.

Dive deeper — the students

The seven Class of 2025 students featured in Class of 2025: Growing up in Oregon schools are only a few of the 25 students OPB has followed since kindergarten. Read and listen to the stories of other Class of 2025 students.

Raiden: Raiden’s story: Overcoming academic barriers proves simpler than succeeding after high school

Anna and Austin: ‘I’m not lost anymore’: Class of 2025 cousins find direction after high school

Leyna (and Dale): For these Class of 2025 students, graduation will come later — or not at all

Johnathan, Leyna, Anna: The COVID generation: Class of 2025 students on how the pandemic changed their school experience

Sam: Class of 2025 students getting to graduation with a little help from their friends

Jason, Austin, Johnathan: Class of 2025 students use online school flexibility to free up time to work

Logan: How a summer job helped this Class of 2025 student graduate a year early

Catch up on OPB’s previous Class of 2025 documentaries and videos

OPB has been visually documenting the learning journeys of the Class of 2025 since they were in kindergarten, producing a handful of shorter films:

Third Grade and the importance of learning to read

The last day of 5th grade

Freshman Year

Class of 2025: Sophomore Year

Class of 2025: Junior Year

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/15/oregon-education-class-of-2025-students/