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What's the most underrated thing about Isom Elementary School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
413
Elementary
DISTRICT 380 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LYNDEN SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530462002260
Isom Elementary School
8461 BENSON RD, LYNDEN, WA 98264 · (360) 354-1992 · Whatcom County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL413 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 66% of Washington public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B-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
16.6:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
46%
192 students
DISTRICT 41% · STATE 51%
Community
1
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 | 76 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 62 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 59 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 67 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 77 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (77).
Student demographics
54%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 54% · 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
Isom Elementary School→Lynden Middle School
Based on grade levels within Lynden School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
60.9%
WA avg 58.4% . -4.9pp since 2014
Math
52.4%
WA avg 51.2% . -15.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 61 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 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 16 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 60.9% | 52.4% |
| 2023-24 | 51.5% | 53.9% |
| 2022-23 | 53.3% | 50.7% |
| 2021-22 | 53.5% | 57.4% |
| 2018-19 | 55.9% | 53.6% |
| 2017-18 | 59.1% | 58.9% |
| 2016-17 | 58.1% | 59.4% |
| 2015-16 | 69.9% | 69.9% |
| 2014-15 | 65.7% | 68.2% |
% 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
54.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.0%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 55% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% 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 Isom Elementary School
Isom Elementary School's state test result (54.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isom Elementary School this school | 413 | 46.5% | 54.9% |
| Fryelands Elementary Monroe | 414 | 48.8% | 50.9% |
| McKenna Elementary McKenna | 418 | 49.3% | 51.1% |
| Hulan L Whitson Elem WHITE SALMON | 352 | 45.7% | 49.2% |
| Sacajawea Elementary Richland | 474 | 49.6% | N/A |
| Central Emerson Elementary Snohomish | 477 | 48.8% | 42.1% |
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 Isom Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.9% | #351 of 936 | #7 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 52.4% | #400 of 1,103 ▼ 37 | #4 of 30 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 60.9% | #280 of 1,102 ▲ 183 | #2 of 30 ▲ 7 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.2pp | #489 of 928 | #15 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 413 | #582 of 1,268 | #11 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #715 of 1,085 | #18 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 54.2% | #664 of 1,088 | #14 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 46.5% | #703 of 1,169 | #23 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.8% | #294 of 778 | #7 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
413
+18 (+5%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 497
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 413 | 24.9 | 16.6:1 | 46% (192) |
| 2023-24 | 414 | 25.6 | 16.2:1 | 45% (188) |
| 2022-23 | 424 | 28 | 15.1:1 | 44% (187) |
| 2020-21 | 395 | 28 | 14.1:1 | 30% (118) |
| 2017-18 | 515 | 30.8 | 16.7:1 | 32% (164) |
| 2015-16 | 492 | 26 | 18.9:1 | 37% (184) |
| 2010-11 | 376 | 19 | 19.8:1 | 30% (114) |
| 2000-01 | 394 | 20 | 19.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 497 | 21 | 23.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Isom Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (515 to 413); teachers down 19% (30.8 to 24.9).
About Isom Elementary School
Isom Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in LYNDEN, Washington, administered by Lynden School District. The school counted 413 students in 2024-25, covering kindergarten through 5.
Isom Elementary School falls under Lynden School District, which has 7 schools enrolling 3,646 students.
The student body at Isom Elementary School is 61% White. Other reported shares: 30% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Whatcom County's residents are about 78% White, 17 points above the school's share. A diversity index of 54% means there is a 54% chance two randomly chosen students at Isom Elementary School are from different groups.
Staffing at Isom Elementary School comes to 24.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 16.6:1. Elementary schools in Washington have an average ratio of 17.3:1. On the income side, 46% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is in line with the 47% average for public schools in Whatcom County.
Among Washington public elementary schools, Isom Elementary School outscored 66%, which works out to a B+ on the allk12 Grade.
A school with Isom Elementary School's lunch-eligibility share in Washington is predicted to score 49.0%. Isom Elementary School scores 54.9%, 5.8 points above that line.
American Community Survey estimates for Whatcom County show that the median household earns about $81,784 a year, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Across Whatcom County, 78 public schools serve about 27,779 students.
About 0.4 miles separate Isom Elementary School from the closest public school, Fisher Elementary School. A five-mile radius around the school includes 6 other public schools. Local comparison: Isom Elementary School ranks 2nd of 7 nearby schools, at 54.9% versus a 46.1% average.
In the federal locale system, Isom Elementary School is coded Town: Fringe, for schools in a town close to an urbanized area.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 5%, from 395 to 413. Students per teacher increased from 14.1 in 2020-21 to 16.6 in 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 Lynden School District
- Lynden High SchoolHigh · 1,002 students
- Lynden Middle SchoolMiddle · 705 students
- Fisher Elementary SchoolElementary · 546 students
- Vossbeck Elementary SchoolElementary · 468 students
- Lynden AcademyCombined · 419 students
- Lynden Student ServicesElementary · 93 students
Other schools in LYNDEN
- Lynden High SchoolHigh · 1,002 students
- Lynden Middle SchoolMiddle · 705 students
- Fisher Elementary SchoolElementary · 546 students
- Vossbeck Elementary SchoolElementary · 468 students
- Lynden AcademyCombined · 419 students
- Meridian Middle SchoolMiddle · 350 students
Nearby schools
- Fisher Elementary School0.4 mi · 546
- Lynden Student Services0.8 mi · 93
- Lynden Academy0.8 mi · 419
- Lynden High School1.7 mi · 1,002
- Vossbeck Elementary School1.9 mi · 468
- Lynden Middle School2.3 mi · 705
Frequently asked questions
About Isom Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Isom Elementary School?
Isom Elementary School enrolls approximately 413 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Isom Elementary School serve?
Isom Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Isom Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Isom Elementary School is approximately 16.6:1 (25 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Isom Elementary School?
Student demographics at Isom Elementary School are roughly 61% White, 30% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Isom Elementary School public or private?
Isom Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Lynden School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.