Enrollment
338
Elementary
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530042000108
Lowell Elementary School
914 15th St, Bellingham, WA 98225 · (360) 676-6430 · Whatcom County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL338 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
34%
116 students
DISTRICT 44% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 1 | 0% |
| Kindergarten | 64 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 58 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 47 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 58 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 53 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 57 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (64) is 12% larger than its 5th grade class (57).
Student demographics
47%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
57.2%
WA avg 58.4% . -19.4pp since 2014
Math
53.0%
WA avg 51.2% . -23.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 53 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 19 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 23 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 57.2% | 53.0% |
| 2023-24 | 60.7% | 52.7% |
| 2022-23 | 53.6% | 51.6% |
| 2021-22 | 58.6% | 50.0% |
| 2018-19 | 77.6% | 67.5% |
| 2017-18 | 70.7% | 66.0% |
| 2016-17 | 64.8% | 62.9% |
| 2015-16 | 79.5% | 80.0% |
| 2014-15 | 76.6% | 76.0% |
% 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
58.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
57.2%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% 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 Lowell Elementary School
Lowell Elementary School's state test result (58.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowell Elementary School this school | 338 | 34.3% | 58.9% |
| White River Early Learning Center Buckley | 360 | 33.6% | N/A |
| Roosevelt Elementary School OLYMPIA | 340 | 35.6% | 58.0% |
| Black Lake Elementary Olympia | 382 | 33.8% | 56.1% |
| Richard Gordon Elementary Kingston | 361 | 35.7% | 56.9% |
| Littlerock Elementary School Olympia | 343 | 33.8% | 57.8% |
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 Lowell Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 58.9% | #273 of 936 | #3 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #388 of 1,103 ▼ 2 | #3 of 30 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.2% | #360 of 1,102 ▼ 71 | #5 of 30 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.8pp | #505 of 928 | #17 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 338 | #835 of 1,268 | #19 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.3:1 | #882 of 1,085 | #23 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.8% | #822 of 1,088 | #24 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 34.3% | #875 of 1,169 | #29 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +16.2% | #82 of 257 | #4 of 13 |
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
338
+108 (+47%) vs 2020
0% since 1990-91, when it was 338
Student : Teacher
17.3:1
was 12.8:1
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 | 338 | 19.5 | 17.3:1 | 34% (116) |
| 2023-24 | 308 | 19.5 | 15.8:1 | 36% (111) |
| 2022-23 | 303 | 20.3 | 14.9:1 | 35% (107) |
| 2020-21 | 230 | 18 | 12.8:1 | 27% (63) |
| 2017-18 | 291 | 17.3 | 16.9:1 | 25% (72) |
| 2015-16 | 295 | 17 | 17.4:1 | 25% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 225 | 11 | 20.4:1 | 10% (23) |
| 2000-01 | 264 | 12 | 22.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 338 | 14 | 24.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lowell Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 16% (291 to 338); teachers up 13% (17.3 to 19.5).
About Lowell Elementary School
Lowell Elementary School is a public elementary school in Bellingham, Washington. It has an enrollment of 338 students in pre-K through 5.
Bellingham School District is the district for Lowell Elementary School. It has 25 schools and 11,337 students.
The largest group at Lowell Elementary School is White students, at 71%. Enrollment also includes 13% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The diversity index for Lowell Elementary School is 47%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school's 19.5 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.3:1. The 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington is close to this figure. Income data for the school show 34% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Whatcom County average 47%.
A school with Lowell Elementary School's lunch-eligibility share in Washington is predicted to score 57.2%. Lowell Elementary School scores 58.9%, 1.7 points above that line.
For Whatcom County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $81,784, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. There are 78 public schools in the county, enrolling about 27,779, Lowell Elementary School among them.
Bellingham Family Partnership Program sits about 0.5 miles from Lowell Elementary School. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The nearest schools with test data average 50.4%, lower than Lowell Elementary School's 58.9%.
Lowell Elementary School has an NCES locale of City: Small.
In 2020-21, federal data counted 230 students at Lowell Elementary School; in 2024-25, 338. The grades served may not have been the same in both years. Federal data show the ratio rising from 12.8:1 to 17.3:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Lowell Elementary School, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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
- Fairhaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 588 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
- Fairhaven Middle SchoolMiddle · 588 students
Other Lowell Elementary schools
24 other US public schools in 15 states are named Lowell Elementary. Lowell Elementary School is the 13th largest of the 25.
- Lowell ElementaryEverett, WA · 531 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolSEATTLE, WA · 392 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolTacoma, WA · 331 students
- Lowell ElementaryLong Beach, CA · 609 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolWaterloo, IA · 538 students
Nearby schools
- Bellingham Family Partnership Program0.5 mi · 258
- Happy Valley Elementary School0.7 mi · 455
- Fairhaven Middle School0.7 mi · 588
- Sehome High School0.9 mi · 1,116
- Whatcom Co Detention Center2.2 mi · 4
- Carl Cozier Elementary School2.2 mi · 325
Frequently asked questions
About Lowell Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Lowell Elementary School?
Lowell Elementary School enrolls approximately 338 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Lowell Elementary School serve?
Lowell Elementary School serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lowell Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Lowell Elementary School is approximately 17.3:1 (20 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Lowell Elementary School?
Student demographics at Lowell Elementary School are roughly 71% White, 13% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Lowell Elementary School in?
Lowell Elementary School is part of Bellingham School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.