Enrollment
305
Elementary
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530042000098
Alderwood Elementary School
3400 Hollywood Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225 · (360) 676-6404 · Whatcom County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL305 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Washington public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Washington public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
200 students
DISTRICT 44% · STATE 51%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 17 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 63 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 41 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 42 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 45 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (63) is 40% larger than its 5th grade class (45).
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 68% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
27.7%
WA avg 58.4% . -14.5pp since 2014
Math
20.7%
WA avg 51.2% . -26.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 28 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 14 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 26 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 27.7% | 20.7% |
| 2023-24 | 32.5% | 26.0% |
| 2022-23 | 34.5% | 31.0% |
| 2021-22 | 31.4% | 25.2% |
| 2018-19 | 35.7% | 16.7% |
| 2017-18 | 33.9% | 30.6% |
| 2016-17 | 32.3% | 36.0% |
| 2015-16 | 47.0% | 46.6% |
| 2014-15 | 42.2% | 47.1% |
% Met or Exceeded Standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Smarter Balanced + WCAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
28.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.2%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Washington's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Alderwood Elementary School
Alderwood Elementary School's state test result (28.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alderwood Elementary School this school | 305 | 65.6% | 28.8% |
| Oroville Elementary Oroville | 298 | 68.1% | 33.3% |
| George C Marshall Elementary VANCOUVER | 313 | 67.1% | N/A |
| Forks Elementary School Forks | 368 | 62.5% | N/A |
| Ahtanum Valley Elementary Yakima | 381 | 64.3% | 60.4% |
| David Wolfle Elementary Kingston | 288 | 62.5% | 35.9% |
Matched among Washington elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Alderwood Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.8% | #814 of 936 | #29 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.7% | #1,031 of 1,103 ▼ 95 | #29 of 30 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 27.7% | #983 of 1,102 ▼ 87 | #29 of 30 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.1pp | #177 of 928 | #6 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 305 | #936 of 1,268 | #24 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.1:1 | #161 of 1,085 | #4 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.2% | #498 of 1,088 | #8 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.6% | #344 of 1,169 | #4 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.4% | #394 of 778 | #9 of 20 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
305
+53 (+21%) vs 2020
+28% since 1990-91, when it was 239
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 11.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 305 | 21.6 | 14.1:1 | 66% (200) |
| 2023-24 | 282 | 24.5 | 11.5:1 | 72% (204) |
| 2022-23 | 291 | 23.7 | 12.3:1 | 74% (215) |
| 2020-21 | 252 | 22 | 11.4:1 | 54% (136) |
| 2017-18 | 365 | 21.2 | 17.3:1 | 55% (201) |
| 2015-16 | 241 | 18 | 13.4:1 | 84% (202) |
| 2010-11 | 371 | 21 | 17.7:1 | 56% (209) |
| 2000-01 | 267 | 15 | 17.8:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 239 | 12 | 19.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Alderwood Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 16% (365 to 305); teachers up 2% (21.2 to 21.6).
About Alderwood Elementary School
Alderwood Elementary School is a low-enrollment elementary school that serves part of Bellingham, Washington. Federal data show 305 students enrolled in pre-K through 5 in 2024-25.
Besides Alderwood Elementary School, Bellingham School District runs 24 other schools. The district enrolls 11,337 students.
Of every 100 students at Alderwood Elementary School, about 49 are White, the largest group. Smaller groups are 37% Hispanic and 9% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Whatcom County is roughly 78% White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 61%.
Its ratio of 14.1:1 is based on 21.6 full-time-equivalent teachers. Elementary schools in Washington have an average ratio of 17.3:1. In all, 66% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Whatcom County report 47%.
On the allk12 Grade, Alderwood Elementary School lands at F, ahead of 4% of Washington public elementary schools.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 36.2% for Alderwood Elementary School. The school posts 28.8%, 7.4 points below the prediction.
In Whatcom County, where the school is located, the median household earns about $81,784 a year, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. Public schools in Whatcom County number 78, with about 27,779 students.
Measured in a straight line, Birchwood Elementary School is about 1.0 miles from Alderwood Elementary School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Among 7 nearby schools that report test results, Alderwood Elementary School ranks 6th on proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Alderwood Elementary School is coded Suburb: Mid-size, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 21% gain, from 252 to 305. The student-to-teacher ratio increased from 11.4:1 in 2020-21 to 14.1:1 in 2024-25.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Whatcom County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,503
Census ACS
Median income
$81,784
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
78
27,779 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bellingham School District
- Squalicum High SchoolHigh · 1,273 students
- Bellingham High SchoolHigh · 1,165 students
- Sehome High SchoolHigh · 1,116 students
- Whatcom Middle SchoolMiddle · 637 students
- Shuksan Middle SchoolMiddle · 606 students
- Fairhaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 588 students
Other schools in Bellingham
- Squalicum High SchoolHigh · 1,273 students
- Bellingham High SchoolHigh · 1,165 students
- Sehome High SchoolHigh · 1,116 students
- Whatcom Middle SchoolMiddle · 637 students
- Shuksan Middle SchoolMiddle · 606 students
- Fairhaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 588 students
Other Alderwood Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Alderwood Elementary. Alderwood Elementary School is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Alderwood ElementaryIrvine, CA · 770 students
Nearby schools
- Birchwood Elementary School1.0 mi · 335
- Meridian Impact Re-Engagement1.1 mi · 21
- Shuksan Middle School1.1 mi · 606
- Blaine Re-Engagement1.2 mi · 14
- Intergenerational High School1.7 mi · 107
- Cordata Elementary School1.9 mi · 357
Frequently asked questions
About Alderwood Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Alderwood Elementary School?
Alderwood Elementary School enrolls approximately 305 students in grades PK-05.
Is Alderwood Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Alderwood Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Alderwood Elementary School?
Approximately 14.1:1 students per teacher at Alderwood Elementary School.
How diverse is Alderwood Elementary School?
Alderwood Elementary School reports a student body of 49% White, 37% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Alderwood Elementary School?
Alderwood Elementary School is overseen by Bellingham School District in Whatcom County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.