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What tradition at Fairhaven Middle School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
588
Middle
DISTRICT 602 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530042000104
Fairhaven Middle School
110 Park Ridge Rd, Bellingham, WA 98225 · (360) 676-6450 · Whatcom County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL588 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.8:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
240 students
DISTRICT 44% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 186 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 192 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 210 | 36% |
Student demographics
52%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
60.1%
WA avg 58.4% . -20.5pp since 2014
Math
51.0%
WA avg 51.2% . -22.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 60 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 21 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 22 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.1% | 51.0% |
| 2023-24 | 64.9% | 54.9% |
| 2022-23 | 63.7% | 50.8% |
| 2021-22 | 58.7% | 44.1% |
| 2018-19 | 74.8% | 56.5% |
| 2017-18 | 79.5% | 63.8% |
| 2016-17 | 81.3% | 68.2% |
| 2015-16 | 86.0% | 74.2% |
| 2014-15 | 80.7% | 73.1% |
% 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
59.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.8%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% 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 Fairhaven Middle School
Fairhaven Middle School's state test result (59.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairhaven Middle School this school | 588 | 40.8% | 59.3% |
| Orting Middle School Orting | 643 | 40.0% | 34.7% |
| Lincoln Middle School Pullman | 643 | 37.6% | 60.6% |
| Whatcom Middle School Bellingham | 637 | 42.4% | 50.9% |
| Haller Middle School Arlington | 576 | 37.0% | 38.1% |
| Cedar Heights Middle School PORT ORCHARD | 689 | 42.8% | 51.0% |
Matched among Washington middle 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 Fairhaven Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.3% | #55 of 294 | #2 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.0% | #71 of 357 ▼ 12 | #3 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.1% | #83 of 357 ▼ 29 | #2 of 11 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +4.2pp | #98 of 290 | #5 of 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 588 | #204 of 377 | #4 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #105 of 340 | #7 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.5% | #225 of 340 | #9 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.8% | #243 of 359 | #10 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.2% | #142 of 192 | #5 of 8 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
588
+29 (+5%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 662
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 18.0:1
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 | 588 | 32.4 | 18.1:1 | 41% (240) |
| 2023-24 | 581 | 32.5 | 17.9:1 | 45% (259) |
| 2022-23 | 597 | 35.3 | 16.9:1 | 37% (221) |
| 2020-21 | 559 | 31 | 18.0:1 | 20% (112) |
| 2017-18 | 627 | 34.3 | 18.3:1 | 19% (119) |
| 2015-16 | 590 | 30 | 19.7:1 | 21% (122) |
| 2010-11 | 714 | 34 | 21.0:1 | 22% (156) |
| 2000-01 | 604 | 27 | 22.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 662 | 32 | 20.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fairhaven Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (627 to 588); teachers down 5% (34.3 to 32.4).
About Fairhaven Middle School
Fairhaven Middle School is classified as a middle school. It is located in Bellingham, Washington. It educates 588 students in grades 6 through 8.
Within Bellingham School District, Fairhaven Middle School is one of 25 schools. The district enrolls 11,337 students.
A majority of students at Fairhaven Middle School, 67%, are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 15% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 6% Asian. The White share of the county population is higher, at 78%. Fairhaven Middle School has a diversity index of 52%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The teaching staff at Fairhaven Middle School is 32.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 18.1:1. That ratio is under the 18.9:1 average for middle schools in Washington. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 41%.
Test results at Fairhaven Middle School are 6.5 points above what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (59.3% actual, 52.8% predicted).
Among Whatcom County residents, median household income is about $81,784, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Fairhaven Middle School is one of 78 public schools in Whatcom County, which together enroll about 27,779 students.
The nearest other public school, Bellingham Family Partnership Program, is about 0.5 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Fairhaven Middle School. On state test proficiency, Fairhaven Middle School ranks 1st in a group of 7 nearby schools.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Small. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
The number of students climbed from 559 to 588 over 4 years.
The discussion area below is open to posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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
- Kulshan Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 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
- Kulshan Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
Nearby schools
- Bellingham Family Partnership Program0.5 mi · 258
- Lowell Elementary School0.7 mi · 338
- Happy Valley Elementary School1.0 mi · 455
- Sehome High School1.4 mi · 1,116
- Wade King Elementary School2.8 mi · 297
- Carl Cozier Elementary School2.9 mi · 325
Frequently asked questions
About Fairhaven Middle SchoolHow many students attend Fairhaven Middle School?
Fairhaven Middle School enrolls approximately 588 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Fairhaven Middle School serve?
Fairhaven Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fairhaven Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Fairhaven Middle School is approximately 18.1:1 (32 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Fairhaven Middle School?
At Fairhaven Middle School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 15% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Fairhaven Middle School in?
Fairhaven Middle School is part of Bellingham School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.