Public Elementary Schools in Sellwood-Moreland Portland

Sellwood-Moreland sits in the southeastern corner of Portland, and all public elementary schools serving the neighborhood fall under Portland Public Schools (PPS), the city's main urban school district. PPS is one of the largest districts in Oregon, serving roughly 45,000 students across more than 80 schools district-wide. Understanding how the district is structured is the first step before comparing any individual school.

The District and Enrollment Structure

Portland Public Schools operates on a neighborhood school model for elementary grades, meaning most students attend the school assigned to their home address. However, PPS also maintains a transfer and focus option program that allows families to apply to schools outside their assigned zone, space permitting. This means the school assigned to a specific address in Sellwood-Moreland is your default starting point, not necessarily your only option.

The elementary schools most commonly associated with the Sellwood-Moreland attendance area include Sellwood Middle School as a feeder destination for upper grades, with Llewellyn Elementary and Duniway Elementary serving much of the neighborhood at the K-5 level. Depending on where exactly a home sits within Sellwood-Moreland, the assigned elementary school can vary, which is why verifying the boundary for any specific address matters before you make an offer.

School Boundary Zones and How They Work

School boundary zones in Portland are drawn at the street level, and a single block can sometimes fall in a different attendance area than the block next to it. The Portland Public Schools website maintains an interactive boundary map where you can enter a specific street address and see the assigned school instantly. This tool is free, updated by the district, and far more reliable than any third-party source. Always use it to confirm the school tied to a property you are seriously considering.

Boundary lines can also shift when PPS conducts redistricting reviews, which the district does periodically to manage enrollment capacity across schools. If you are buying in Sellwood-Moreland and a specific school assignment matters to your household, it is worth asking PPS directly whether any redistricting discussions are in progress for that zone.

2. How to Research Public Elementary Schools in Sellwood-Moreland

The area is served by Portland Public Schools. The neighborhood includes several public elementary school buildings within its boundaries.

Oregon Department of Education and ODE Report Cards

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) publishes annual report cards for every public school in the state at the ODE School Report Cards portal (ode.oregon.gov). These report cards include data on student enrollment, attendance rates, English language arts and math proficiency percentages broken down by grade, chronic absenteeism rates, graduation rates for high schools, and demographic breakdowns. You can search by school name or district and pull the most recent year's data directly.

Portland Public Schools publishes district profiles and reports covering its schools, including facilities, programs, and enrollment information. This information is publicly accessible to anyone researching the area.

Portland Public Schools Official Resources

Beyond state data, Portland Public Schools publishes individual school profiles on its own website (pps.net). Each profile includes program offerings, staff contacts, enrollment numbers, and links to the school's own site where you can often find the principal's welcome letter, curriculum information, and upcoming events. Reviewing a school's own site gives you a clearer sense of the culture and programs than any numeric score can.

PPS also posts information about its focus option schools, which are district-wide programs with specific instructional approaches such as language immersion, arts integration, or inquiry-based learning. Several focus option schools are accessible to Sellwood-Moreland residents through the district's transfer application process, so it is worth reviewing those program descriptions if you are interested in alternatives to the neighborhood assignment.

What the Data Does and Does Not Tell You

Visiting a school, attending an open house, and speaking directly with the principal and staff can give you a sense of the building, its programs, and how it operates day to day.

The Oregon Department of Education and Portland Public Schools publish information directly about the district's schools. When researching, ode.oregon.gov and pps.net are sources for official information.

For additional context on how Portland school assignments connect to home purchases, this overview of schools in Portland covers zone logistics, costs, and commute considerations worth reading alongside official district materials.

3. Questions to Ask When Evaluating Elementary Schools in This Area

Data gives you a foundation, but direct conversation fills in the gaps. Whether you are relocating to Sellwood-Moreland from out of state or moving from another Portland neighborhood, the following questions will help you get a complete picture of the public elementary schools serving this area.

Questions for the School Directly

Call or email the school office and ask how enrollment works for incoming families, what the typical class sizes are at the grade level you need, and whether there are any waitlists for specific programs. Ask about before and after school care options, since many Portland elementary schools partner with third-party providers and availability varies by site. If your child has an IEP or specific learning needs, ask directly how the school supports those students and who the point of contact is.

Most Portland Public Schools elementary principals hold open house events in the fall, typically in September and October. Attending one of these in person before you close on a home gives you a sense of the school's environment that no data point can replicate.

Questions to Ask Your Real Estate Agent

A knowledgeable Portland agent can confirm the school zone tied to a specific address, flag if any boundary changes have been discussed for that zone, and tell you whether the home's listing materials accurately reflect the assigned school. This matters because listing descriptions sometimes list a school that is nearby but not actually assigned to that address. Always verify through the PPS boundary tool.

If you are coming from out of state and navigating both a home search and school research at the same time, working with an agent who knows the Sellwood-Moreland market well saves you significant time. You can read more about finding the right buyer's agent for an out-of-state move in this guide to finding a buyer's agent in Portland when relocating from out of state.

4. What the Sellwood-Moreland Neighborhood Looks Like for Home Buyers

Sellwood-Moreland is one of Portland's older established residential neighborhoods, sitting at the southern end of the city along the Willamette River. Understanding the physical character of the neighborhood helps you put the school research in context, since where a home sits within Sellwood-Moreland affects both the school zone and the commute.

Housing Stock and Price Ranges

The majority of homes in Sellwood-Moreland were built between the 1910s and the 1950s, giving the neighborhood a mix of Craftsman bungalows, Tudor cottages, and early ranch-style homes on lots that typically run 4,000 to 6,000 square feet. Newer infill construction and townhomes have appeared along some corridors, particularly near Milwaukie Avenue and the areas closest to the Bybee Boulevard commercial strip.

As of September 2026, median home prices in Sellwood-Moreland generally range from the mid-$500,000s to the upper $700,000s for single-family detached homes, depending on lot size, condition, and proximity to the river bluff. Smaller bungalows closer to the Milwaukie Avenue commercial corridor tend to come in at the lower end of that range, while larger homes on the bluff with river views push toward the top. Condos and townhomes offer entry points starting in the mid-$300,000s in some cases.

For a broader look at what housing costs across Portland look like right now, the Sellwood neighborhood guide at Homes.com provides a useful snapshot of recent sales data and demographic context that you can cross-reference with your own search.

Parks, Trails, and Physical Amenities

Sellwood-Moreland has direct access to the Springwater Corridor Trail, a 40-mile paved multi-use path that runs along the Willamette River and connects to the rest of Portland's trail network. The Sellwood Riverfront Park sits along the river at the western edge of the neighborhood, offering open lawn space, a boat ramp, and direct views of the Willamette. Sellwood Park, a 17-acre city park at the neighborhood's southern end, includes tennis courts, a community pool open in summer, and open grass areas.

The Moreland commercial district along SE 13th Avenue is a walkable strip with independent restaurants, coffee shops, and locally owned retail. The antique row on SE Milwaukie Avenue has been a neighborhood fixture for decades. Both corridors are within easy walking distance of most homes in the core of the neighborhood.

Commute Times and Access Points

Sellwood-Moreland sits roughly 5 miles south of downtown Portland. Driving to downtown via SE McLoughlin Boulevard or SE Milwaukie Avenue typically takes 15 to 25 minutes outside of peak traffic. During morning rush hour heading north, that can stretch to 30 to 40 minutes depending on the route and destination.

TriMet bus lines serve the neighborhood, with lines running along SE Milwaukie Avenue and SE 17th Avenue connecting to the Orange Line MAX at the Bybee station, which provides rail access north toward downtown Portland and south toward Milwaukie and Clackamas. The Springwater Corridor also makes bicycle commuting practical for riders heading toward the Central Eastside or inner Southeast.

5. How School Zones Can Affect Home Prices in Sellwood-Moreland

School zone assignments can influence what buyers are willing to pay for a home, and Sellwood-Moreland is no exception. Understanding this dynamic helps you make a more informed offer and evaluate whether a home is priced appropriately for its specific location within the neighborhood.

Why Boundaries Matter to Buyers

When buyers place a strong preference on a particular school assignment, demand for homes within that boundary tends to be more concentrated, which can affect list prices and how quickly homes move. This is not unique to Portland. It is a pattern seen in urban real estate markets across the country, and Sellwood-Moreland, given its compact geography and relatively small number of elementary schools, reflects it clearly.

It is worth reading about how Portland school assignments connect to home values more broadly if this is a significant factor in your search. Understanding those dynamics can also help you evaluate whether a particular home is priced with that school zone premium built in.

Verifying Your Zone Before You Make an Offer

Never rely on a listing description alone to confirm a school assignment. Listing agents sometimes list the nearest school or the school the previous owners used, which may not reflect the current boundary assignment for that address. The Portland Public Schools boundary lookup tool at pps.net is the only authoritative way to confirm which elementary school is assigned to a specific property.

If the school assignment is a deciding factor for your purchase, make it part of your due diligence checklist before you remove contingencies. A good buyer's agent who knows Southeast Portland will already know to flag this for you and can help you cross-check the assignment as part of the offer process. You can learn more about what to look for when choosing an agent in this guide to questions to ask when interviewing real estate agents in Portland.

Also keep in mind that PPS allows transfer applications for families who want to request a school outside their assigned zone. Transfers are not guaranteed, but they are a real option that many Portland families use successfully. The application window and process details are published annually on the PPS website, typically opening in late fall for the following school year.