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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Squalicum High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,273
High
DISTRICT 642 · STATE 573
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLINGHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530042002693
Squalicum High School
3773 E McLeod Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226 · (360) 676-6471 · Whatcom County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,273 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 23% of Washington public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
21.1:1
60 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.2:1 · STATE 21.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
550 students
DISTRICT 44% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 335 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 311 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 308 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 319 | 25% |
Student demographics
63%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
66.7%
WA avg 58.4% . +54.6pp since 2014
Math
33.8%
WA avg 51.2% . +22.7pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 34 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are up about 55 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 23 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 66.7% | 33.8% |
| 2023-24 | 63.7% | 30.1% |
| 2022-23 | 53.2% | 28.5% |
| 2021-22 | 68.3% | 28.4% |
| 2018-19 | 75.5% | 36.2% |
| 2017-18 | 69.2% | 41.5% |
| 2016-17 | 17.4% | 4.8% |
| 2015-16 | 14.0% | 11.7% |
| 2014-15 | 12.1% | 11.1% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
37.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.2%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 51% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Squalicum High School
Squalicum High School's state test result (37.1% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squalicum High School this school | 1,273 | 43.2% | 37.1% |
| Ferndale High School Ferndale | 1,325 | 45.5% | 46.9% |
| Marysville Getchell High School Marysville | 1,381 | 44.2% | 35.6% |
| Lynden High School LYNDEN | 1,002 | 43.5% | 47.6% |
| Oak Harbor High School Oak Harbor | 1,562 | 38.6% | 45.6% |
| Monroe High School Monroe | 1,515 | 40.1% | 42.6% |
Matched among Washington high 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 Squalicum High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.1% | #175 of 271 | #8 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.8% | #119 of 321 ▲ 24 | #6 of 10 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.7% | #100 of 327 ▲ 36 | #4 of 10 ▲ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.9pp | #86 of 259 | #2 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,273 | #125 of 570 | #2 of 18 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.1:1 | #181 of 311 | #5 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.9% | #110 of 316 | #1 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.2% | #247 of 386 | #7 of 12 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.3% | #136 of 164 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,273
-18 (-1%) vs 2020
-1% since 2000-01, when it was 1,287
Student : Teacher
21.1:1
was 20.8:1
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 | 1,273 | 60.3 | 21.1:1 | 43% (550) |
| 2023-24 | 1,241 | 62.4 | 19.9:1 | 49% (611) |
| 2022-23 | 1,280 | 64.9 | 19.7:1 | 45% (574) |
| 2020-21 | 1,291 | 62 | 20.8:1 | 34% (444) |
| 2017-18 | 1,317 | 64.2 | 20.5:1 | 41% (536) |
| 2015-16 | 1,392 | 59 | 23.6:1 | 44% (610) |
| 2010-11 | 1,357 | 61 | 22.3:1 | 30% (408) |
| 2000-01 | 1,287 | 54 | 23.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Squalicum High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (1,317 to 1,273); teachers down 6% (64.2 to 60.3).
About Squalicum High School
Squalicum High School is a public high school in Bellingham, Washington. The school counts 1,273 students across grades 9 through 12. The typical figure for high schools in Washington is about 573 students.
Bellingham School District operates 25 schools. Combined enrollment is 11,337 students.
Squalicum High School's enrollment is 53% White. Enrollment also includes 27% Hispanic, 9% Asian, and 8% multiracial. Among people living in Whatcom County, the White share is about 78%. The chance that two students picked at random at Squalicum High School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 63%.
Squalicum High School's 60.3 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 21.1:1. Across high schools in Washington, the average ratio is about 21.6:1. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 43%.
Measured against Washington public high schools, Squalicum High School 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.
Squalicum High School falls short of its prediction by 14.1 points. The model expects 51.2% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Washington; the school's rate is 37.1%.
Whatcom County has these Census figures: median household income is about $81,784, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Squalicum High School is among the 78 public schools in Whatcom County.
Northern Heights Elementary Schl is the closest public school, about 0.2 miles away in a straight line. Squalicum High School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Squalicum High School comes in 7th of 7 nearby schools on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Small, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Enrollment went from 1,291 in 2020-21 to 1,273 in 2024-25, a change of 18 students.
Community posts for Squalicum High School can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
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
- 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
- Kulshan Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
Other schools in Bellingham
- 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
- Kulshan Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
Nearby schools
- Northern Heights Elementary Schl0.2 mi · 396
- Silver Beach Elementary School1.1 mi · 357
- Roosevelt Elementary School1.4 mi · 348
- Bellingham Re-Engagement Program1.5 mi · 110
- Visions (Seamar Youth Center)1.7 mi · 11
- Sunnyland Elementary School2.2 mi · 288
Frequently asked questions
About Squalicum High SchoolHow large is Squalicum High School?
Squalicum High School enrolls approximately 1,273 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Squalicum High School serve?
Squalicum High School serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Squalicum High School have?
Squalicum High School employs 60 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Squalicum High School?
Student demographics at Squalicum High School are roughly 53% White, 27% Hispanic, 2% Black, 9% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Squalicum High School?
Squalicum High School is overseen by Bellingham School District in Whatcom County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.