Alderwood Elementary School

As an intimate K-5 school in Bellingham, Washington, Alderwood Elementary School works with 305 students from grades pre-K through 5, one of the schools within Bellingham School District.

Alderwood Elementary School is one of 25 schools operated by Bellingham School District, a district that teaches 11,337 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Alderwood Elementary School reports that 49% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school records 37% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 78% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school reports having 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.1:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.3:1 average. Around 66% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is higher than Whatcom County's rate of about 47%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Alderwood Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 36.2%, the actual is 28.8%, a residual of -7.4 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Whatcom County shows median household earnings sit near $81,784, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Across Whatcom County's 78 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,779 students), Alderwood Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Birchwood Elementary School, around 1.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Alderwood Elementary School. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Alderwood Elementary School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 39.1%.

Alderwood Elementary School operates from a residential location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 16%: 365 students in 2018 compared to 305 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 56% to 49% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 14.1:1 today.

Inside the community feed, members of the Alderwood Elementary School community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.