Enrollment
315
Elementary
DISTRICT 281 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FERNDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530285000458
Central Elementary
5610 Second Avenue, Ferndale, WA 98248 · (360) 383-9600 · Whatcom County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL315 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
65%
205 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 59 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 48 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 39 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 69 | 22% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 14% smaller than its 5th grade class (69).
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
45.3%
WA avg 58.4% . -5.2pp since 2014
Math
37.3%
WA avg 51.2% . -13.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 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 5 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 14 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.3% | 37.3% |
| 2023-24 | 39.6% | 39.0% |
| 2022-23 | 36.3% | 42.4% |
| 2021-22 | 36.6% | 33.1% |
| 2018-19 | 59.9% | 43.9% |
| 2017-18 | 62.4% | 58.4% |
| 2016-17 | 58.7% | 55.3% |
| 2015-16 | 64.6% | 62.0% |
| 2014-15 | 50.6% | 50.8% |
% 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
41.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.5%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 37% 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 Central Elementary
Central Elementary's state test result (41.8% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary this school | 315 | 65.1% | 41.8% |
| Jackson Elementary School Everett | 322 | 67.7% | 54.2% |
| Waller Road Elementary Tacoma | 306 | 60.8% | 36.2% |
| Berney Elementary School WALLA WALLA | 324 | 66.4% | 40.0% |
| Sumas Elementary Sumas | 295 | 62.4% | 42.6% |
| Lincoln Elementary School VANCOUVER | 280 | 60.4% | N/A |
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 Central Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #588 of 936 | #19 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.3% | #724 of 1,103 ▼ 68 | #21 of 30 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.3% | #616 of 1,102 ▲ 121 | #15 of 30 ▲ 6 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.4pp | #197 of 928 | #5 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 315 | #911 of 1,268 | #23 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.4:1 | #895 of 1,085 | #25 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.7% | #549 of 1,088 | #10 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.1% | #354 of 1,169 | #5 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.2% | #597 of 778 | #13 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
315
+32 (+11%) vs 2020
-2% since 1990-91, when it was 323
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 315 | 18.1 | 17.4:1 | 65% (205) |
| 2023-24 | 321 | 23.8 | 13.5:1 | 66% (212) |
| 2022-23 | 311 | 23.9 | 13.0:1 | 64% (199) |
| 2020-21 | 283 | 18 | 15.7:1 | 50% (141) |
| 2017-18 | 343 | 17 | 20.1:1 | 52% (179) |
| 2015-16 | 328 | 20 | 16.4:1 | 55% (180) |
| 2010-11 | 343 | 20 | 17.1:1 | 79% (271) |
| 2000-01 | 311 | 18 | 17.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 323 | 16 | 20.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (343 to 315); teachers up 6% (17 to 18.1).
About Central Elementary
Central Elementary is a low-enrollment elementary school in Ferndale, Washington, administered by Ferndale School District. Enrollment totals 315 students across pre-K through 5.
Ferndale School District enrolls 4,746 students in 13 schools, including Central Elementary.
More than half of enrollment at Central Elementary is White: 58%. Next come 24% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 6% Asian. The county population is about 78% White. The diversity index for Central Elementary is 59%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Staffing at Central Elementary comes to 18.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 17.4:1. The average for elementary schools in Washington is about 17.3:1. On the income side, 65% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That rate is above the 47% average among public schools in Whatcom County.
After adjusting for student poverty, Central Elementary lands between the top and bottom 10% of Washington schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 41.8%; the prediction is 36.5%.
In the surrounding county, Whatcom County, the median household earns about $81,784 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Whatcom County has 78 public schools with about 27,779 students, including Central Elementary.
Measured in a straight line, Ferndale Virtual Academy is about 0.4 miles from Central Elementary. The five-mile area around Central Elementary holds at least 8 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 38.2%, lower than Central Elementary's 41.8%.
In the federal locale system, Central Elementary 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 school grew from 283 students in 2020-21 to 315 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went up from 15.7:1 to 17.4:1.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
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 Ferndale School District
- Ferndale High SchoolHigh · 1,325 students
- Vista Middle SchoolMiddle · 550 students
- Skyline Elementary SchoolElementary · 496 students
- Eagleridge ElementaryElementary · 457 students
- Cascadia ElementaryElementary · 440 students
- Horizon Middle SchoolMiddle · 433 students
Other schools in Ferndale
- Ferndale High SchoolHigh · 1,325 students
- Vista Middle SchoolMiddle · 550 students
- Skyline Elementary SchoolElementary · 496 students
- Eagleridge ElementaryElementary · 457 students
- Cascadia ElementaryElementary · 440 students
- Horizon Middle SchoolMiddle · 433 students
Other Central Elementary schools
151 other US public schools in 35 states are named Central Elementary. Central Elementary is the 106th largest of the 152.
- Central Elementary SchoolSedro-Woolley, WA · 476 students
- Central Elementary SchoolHoquiam, WA · 232 students
- Central Elementary SchoolCarrollton, GA · 991 students
- CENTRAL ELEM.ST CHARLES, MO · 865 students
- Central ElementaryBanning, CA · 782 students
Nearby schools
- Ferndale Virtual Academy0.4 mi · 154
- Ferndale High School0.4 mi · 1,325
- Mountain View Elementary0.7 mi · 101
- Ferndale Special Services1.1 mi · 20
- Ferndale Re-Engagement1.1 mi · 33
- Vista Middle School1.1 mi · 550
Frequently asked questions
About Central ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Central Elementary?
Central Elementary enrolls approximately 315 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Central Elementary serve?
Central Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Central Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Central Elementary is approximately 17.4:1 (18 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Central Elementary?
Central Elementary reports a student body of 58% White, 24% Hispanic, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Central Elementary?
Central Elementary is overseen by Ferndale School District in Whatcom County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.