Garfield Elementary

Garfield Elementary is an elementary campus of very small scale in Garfield, Washington, one of the schools within Garfield School District, enrolling 51 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 380 students per school, that is 87% leaner than typical.

Garfield School District runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 127 students. Garfield Elementary is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Garfield Elementary lists that 76% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder comes out to 10% Hispanic, 10% multiracial. Compared to Whitman County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

On the resource side, Garfield Elementary shows 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 9.7:1. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 65% of students at Garfield Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Whitman County runs at roughly 40%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Garfield Elementary sits in the top 10% of Washington schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 36.8%; actual is 56.1%, +19.3 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Zooming out to the county, Whitman County reports that median household earnings sit near $55,406, 50% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Whitman County's 28 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,753 students), Garfield Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Garfield Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Garfield Elementary ranks 4th on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 51.5%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Garfield Elementary has declined 14%, going from 59 students in 2018 to 51 in 2025. The White share of enrollment edged down from 90% to 76% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 11.3:1 in 2018 to 9.7:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.