Shadow Lake Elementary

Shadow Lake Elementary, a moderately sized elementary-level community in Maple Valley, Washington, run under Tahoma School District, caters to 479 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 26% bigger than the typical public school in Washington, which averages around 380 students.

Within Tahoma School District, which oversees 9 schools and 9,234 students, Shadow Lake Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Shadow Lake Elementary lists that White students make up the majority at 63%. Other groups include 17% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, 5% Asian.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Shadow Lake Elementary has 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Shadow Lake Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 35% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Shadow Lake Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 56.4%, the actual is 60.7%, a residual of +4.3 points.

In the surrounding community, census data for King County shows median household income runs about $124,746, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across King County's 544 public schools (combined enrollment of about 278,492 students), Shadow Lake Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Cedar River Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Shadow Lake Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Shadow Lake Elementary at 7th of 9; the average score across the group is 63.3%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Shadow Lake Elementary has stayed largely flat, going from 487 students in 2018 to 479 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 67% to 63% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 17.5:1 in 2018 to 15.7:1 today.

On this page, members of the Shadow Lake Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.