Enrollment
324
Elementary
DISTRICT 200 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHEWELAH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530126000229
Gess Elementary
405 E Lincoln, Chewelah, WA 99109 · (509) 685-6800 · Stevens County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL324 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of Washington public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-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
14.6:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.0:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
187 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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 | 43 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 45 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 35 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 57 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 17% |
| Grade 6 | 55 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is 22% smaller than its 6th grade class (55).
Student demographics
22%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 28% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Gess Elementary→Jenkins Junior/Senior High
Based on grade levels within Chewelah School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
41.9%
WA avg 58.4% . -0.8pp since 2014
Math
35.4%
WA avg 51.2% . -8.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2014, while math scores are down about 9 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.9% | 35.4% |
| 2023-24 | 40.2% | 37.0% |
| 2022-23 | 43.1% | 41.5% |
| 2021-22 | 35.5% | 26.5% |
| 2018-19 | 62.9% | 47.2% |
| 2017-18 | 61.3% | 53.6% |
| 2016-17 | 55.1% | 51.1% |
| 2015-16 | 48.0% | 47.7% |
| 2014-15 | 42.7% | 43.9% |
% 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
40.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.5%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 Gess Elementary
Gess Elementary's state test result (40.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gess Elementary this school | 324 | 57.7% | 40.5% |
| Davenport Elementary DAVENPORT | 351 | 55.6% | 56.1% |
| Chattaroy Elementary Chattaroy | 320 | 61.3% | 49.2% |
| Riverside Elementary Chattaroy | 380 | 57.6% | 53.7% |
| Franklin Elementary PORT ANGELES | 318 | 56.0% | N/A |
| Deer Park Elementary Deer Park | 400 | 55.8% | 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 Gess Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Stevens County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.5% | #618 of 936 | #4 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.4% | #767 of 1,103 ▼ 62 | #6 of 10 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.9% | #697 of 1,102 ▲ 22 | #4 of 10 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.7pp | #141 of 928 | #3 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 324 | #881 of 1,268 | #4 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.6:1 | #245 of 1,085 | #2 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 21.6% | #1,042 of 1,088 | #5 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.7% | #489 of 1,169 | #10 of 12 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.8% | #194 of 257 | N/A |
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
324
+67 (+26%) vs 2020
-31% since 1990-91, when it was 469
Student : Teacher
14.6:1
was 13.5:1
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 | 324 | 22.2 | 14.6:1 | 58% (187) |
| 2023-24 | 354 | 23.3 | 15.2:1 | 64% (226) |
| 2022-23 | 330 | 22.3 | 14.8:1 | 68% (223) |
| 2020-21 | 257 | 19 | 13.5:1 | 55% (141) |
| 2017-18 | 312 | 20.1 | 15.5:1 | 63% (198) |
| 2015-16 | 343 | 20 | 17.1:1 | 71% (242) |
| 2010-11 | 323 | 20 | 16.1:1 | 63% (202) |
| 2000-01 | 505 | 26 | 19.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 469 | 22 | 21.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gess Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (312 to 324); teachers up 11% (20.1 to 22.2).
About Gess Elementary
Gess Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school in Chewelah, Washington. The school's enrollment of 324 students covers kindergarten through 6.
Chewelah School District has 4 schools and 799 students, and Gess Elementary is one of those schools.
About 88% of the student body at Gess Elementary is White. Other reported shares: 6% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. The White share in Stevens County as a whole is similar, at about 85%. Pick two students at random and there is a 22% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
At Gess Elementary, 22.2 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 14.6:1. That is lower than the 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington. Roughly 58% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Stevens County average 55%.
Measured against Washington public elementary schools, Gess Elementary receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Gess Elementary scores 40.5% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 41.5%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Stevens County, the median household income is $69,327, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 22% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. There are 41 public schools in Stevens County, enrolling about 7,726 students in all.
Jenkins Junior/Senior High is the closest public school, about 0.2 miles away in a straight line. Other public schools within five miles number 3. Among 4 nearby schools that report test results, Gess Elementary ranks 1st on proficiency.
Federal data place Gess Elementary in the Rural: Remote locale, which means it is in rural territory far from an urban area.
2024-25 enrollment was 324, a 26% rise from 257 in 2020-21. The school's ratio rose from 13.5:1 to 14.6:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Gess Elementary. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Stevens County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
48,067
Census ACS
Median income
$69,327
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
22%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
7,726 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chewelah School District
- Jenkins Junior/Senior HighHigh · 322 students
- Quartzite LearningCombined · 113 students
- Chewelah Open Doors Reengagement ProgramHigh · 40 students
Other schools in Chewelah
- Jenkins Junior/Senior HighHigh · 322 students
- Quartzite LearningCombined · 113 students
- Chewelah Open Doors Reengagement ProgramHigh · 40 students
Nearby schools
- Jenkins Junior/Senior High0.2 mi · 322
- Quartzite Learning0.2 mi · 113
- Chewelah Open Doors Reengagement Program0.2 mi · 40
- Columbia Virtual Academy7.7 mi · 863
- Valley Early Learning Center7.7 mi · 47
- Valley School7.8 mi · 166
Frequently asked questions
About Gess ElementaryHow many students attend Gess Elementary?
Gess Elementary enrolls approximately 324 students in grades KG-06.
Is Gess Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Gess Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Gess Elementary have?
Gess Elementary employs 22 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Gess Elementary?
Student demographics at Gess Elementary are roughly 88% White, 6% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Gess Elementary?
Gess Elementary is overseen by Chewelah School District in Stevens County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.