Wade King Elementary School

As an intimate elementary-level community in Bellingham, Washington, Wade King Elementary School caters to 297 students from grades pre-K through 5, one of the schools within Bellingham School District. Compared to the state average of about 380 students per school, that is 22% leaner than typical.

Wade King Elementary School is one of 25 schools operated by Bellingham School District, a district that instructs 11,337 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Wade King Elementary School records that 78% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 11% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 4% Asian. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school lists 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 16.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.3:1 average. About 22% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Whatcom County runs at roughly 47%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, Wade King Elementary School sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 65.5%; actual is 53.6%, a gap of -11.9 points.

In the area at large, Whatcom County reports that median household earnings sit near $81,784, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Whatcom County's 78 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,779 students), Wade King Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Sehome High School, around 1.9 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Wade King Elementary School. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Wade King Elementary School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 53.5%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Wade King Elementary School has ticked down 28%, going from 411 students in 2018 to 297 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.