Birchwood Elementary School

Birchwood Elementary School is an average-sized elementary-level community in Bellingham, Washington, run under Bellingham School District. The school enrolls 335 students in grades pre-K through 5.

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

Looking at the student body, Birchwood Elementary School lists that the largest single group is Hispanic at 45%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder comes out to 40% White, 10% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 11%.

On the income-and-resources front, Birchwood Elementary School shows 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 14.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.3:1 average. About 59% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Whatcom County (around 47%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Birchwood Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 41.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 31.8%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Whatcom County) shows that 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%. Birchwood Elementary School is one of 78 public schools in Whatcom County (combined enrollment of about 27,779 students).

Nearest neighbor: Shuksan Middle School, around 0.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Birchwood Elementary School comes 5th of 7 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 43.5%.

The school occupies an inner-city site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Birchwood Elementary School's enrollment has held roughly steady since 2018, when it stood at 337 (now 335). Over the same period, the White share fell from 45% to 40%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 15.2:1 in 2018 to 14.0:1 today.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.