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Alumni: what's one memory from Northern Heights Elementary Schl that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
396
Elementary
DISTRICT 344 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530042002939
Northern Heights Elementary Schl
4000 Magrath Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226 · (360) 647-6820 · Whatcom County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL396 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 37% 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.
- C-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
15.6:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
36%
142 students
DISTRICT 44% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 1 | 0% |
| Kindergarten | 68 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 52 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 66 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 65 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (68) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (65).
Student demographics
54%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
50.7%
WA avg 58.4% . -6.0pp since 2014
Math
48.8%
WA avg 51.2% . -8.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 51 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 49 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 6 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 9 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 50.7% | 48.8% |
| 2023-24 | 49.5% | 46.1% |
| 2022-23 | 59.1% | 52.9% |
| 2021-22 | 50.9% | 46.8% |
| 2018-19 | 47.6% | 41.2% |
| 2017-18 | 51.5% | 45.1% |
| 2016-17 | 48.7% | 49.3% |
| 2015-16 | 58.0% | 54.0% |
| 2014-15 | 56.7% | 57.4% |
% 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
52.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 56% 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 Northern Heights Elementary Schl
Northern Heights Elementary Schl's state test result (52.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Heights Elementary Schl this school | 396 | 35.9% | 52.0% |
| Maplewood Elementary Puyallup | 371 | 37.2% | 52.0% |
| Silverdale Elementary SILVERDALE | 413 | 36.3% | 58.2% |
| Roosevelt Elementary School OLYMPIA | 340 | 35.6% | 58.0% |
| Bonney Lake Elementary Bonney Lake | 435 | 38.6% | 71.7% |
| Mullenix Ridge Elementary School PORT ORCHARD | 372 | 38.7% | 67.3% |
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 Northern Heights Elementary Schl ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #396 of 936 | #10 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.8% | #465 of 1,103 ▲ 45 | #8 of 30 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 50.7% | #494 of 1,102 ▲ 18 | #10 of 30 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.9pp | #502 of 928 | #16 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 396 | #652 of 1,268 | #14 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.6:1 | #493 of 1,085 | #14 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 54.0% | #668 of 1,088 | #15 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.9% | #856 of 1,169 | #28 of 34 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.8% | #634 of 778 | #14 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
396
+37 (+10%) vs 2020
-8% since 2010-11, when it was 432
Student : Teacher
15.6:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 396 | 25.4 | 15.6:1 | 36% (142) |
| 2023-24 | 420 | 25.6 | 16.4:1 | 40% (167) |
| 2022-23 | 410 | 26.4 | 15.6:1 | 31% (127) |
| 2020-21 | 359 | 23 | 15.6:1 | 29% (105) |
| 2017-18 | 425 | 24.2 | 17.6:1 | 37% (157) |
| 2015-16 | 399 | 23 | 17.4:1 | 31% (124) |
| 2010-11 | 432 | 19 | 22.7:1 | 27% (116) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northern Heights Elementary Schl.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (425 to 396); teachers up 5% (24.2 to 25.4).
About Northern Heights Elementary Schl
Northern Heights Elementary Schl is a medium-sized elementary school located in Bellingham, Washington. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 396 students.
District-wide, Bellingham School District has 25 schools and 11,337 students.
Northern Heights Elementary Schl is 64% White by enrollment. Other students are 15% Hispanic, 14% multiracial, and 5% Asian. By comparison, Whatcom County residents are about 78% White. The school's diversity index is 54%, meaning two students picked at random have a 54% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Federal records show a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.6:1 at Northern Heights Elementary Schl, with 25.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. On average, elementary schools in Washington have 17.3:1, compared with 15.6:1 here. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 36% of enrollment. Across public schools in Whatcom County, the average is 47%.
Measured against Washington public elementary schools, Northern Heights Elementary Schl 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.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 56.1% at Northern Heights Elementary Schl; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 52.0%.
County data help place the school in context: in Whatcom County, the median household income is $81,784, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. In all, Whatcom County has 78 public schools and roughly 27,779 students.
Nearest public school: Squalicum High School, about 0.2 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Northern Heights Elementary Schl is 4th of 7 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
For locale, NCES codes Northern Heights Elementary Schl as City: Small.
Northern Heights Elementary Schl's enrollment grew from 359 in 2020-21 to 396 in 2024-25.
Discussion on this page can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. 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
- 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
Nearby schools
- Squalicum High School0.2 mi · 1,273
- Silver Beach Elementary School1.3 mi · 357
- Roosevelt Elementary School1.7 mi · 348
- Bellingham Re-Engagement Program1.7 mi · 110
- Visions (Seamar Youth Center)2.0 mi · 11
- Sunnyland Elementary School2.5 mi · 288
Frequently asked questions
About Northern Heights Elementary SchlWhat is the total enrollment at Northern Heights Elementary Schl?
Northern Heights Elementary Schl enrolls approximately 396 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Northern Heights Elementary Schl serve?
Northern Heights Elementary Schl serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Northern Heights Elementary Schl?
Approximately 15.6:1 students per teacher at Northern Heights Elementary Schl.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Northern Heights Elementary Schl?
At Northern Heights Elementary Schl, the student body is approximately 64% White, 15% Hispanic, 0% Black, 5% Asian, 14% Two or more.
Is Northern Heights Elementary Schl public or private?
Northern Heights Elementary Schl is a public K-12 school, overseen by Bellingham School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.