4730 SE 36th Ave
Portland, OR 97202

Very nice teachers and students. Learning is valued.

My daughter has been at Creston for almost 2 years and overall has had a very positive experience and feels a strong connection to the school. Middle school is a challenging age, and the staff and teachers generally do a very good job engaging the kids.

We moved from out of state to Portland and researched schools before we came. We chose Cleveland because of the choir program and theater program. The website boasted 3 plays a year, etc. It was a bait and switch. We got there and the theater teacher was suspended for mysterious reasons and no productions only a substitute teacher that knew nothing about theater. After being an excellent student all her life my daughter started to have problems with her work and started hanging out with a bad crowd (school does nothing about kids leaving the grounds). This school only cares about kids who do well without effort. We spoke to guidance counselor at the end of 9th because we were concerned with slipping grades and some skipped classes and she told us not to worry and recommended a private academic coach, who cost us $2000 and did not help! I literally begged the choir teacher to give my child extra encouragement because I knew if she quit singing that we would lose her. Teacher did nothing. Only interested in the stars of the class.To make a long story short, this school grossly failed my child. After I insisted on an IEP out of desperation, they were slightly interested - interested in getting her off of their books! They pushed us to go to the Community College program, which was not suited to her needs at all and she failed it. Covid hit. She never graduated. Thanks, Cleveland!!!There are some GREAT teachers at this school, and some not so great but still very compassionate. The vice-principal (the principal was a revolving door when we were there) and counseling staff are the worst! They actually assigned a counselor to my child that was the mother of the student that caused my child a lot of grief. Completely clueless. The neighborhood is pretty awful also, if you are unfamiliar with Portland look at the setting the school is in - near Cleveland lots of camps and drug use in the park across the street, and strip bars less than a block away. No healthy food restaurants anywhere. Do not send your impressionable sensitive child here!