McKinleyville Union Elementary

The three schools in McKinleyville Union Elementary serve kindergarten through eighth grade across separate grade spans: Dow’s Prairie Elementary serves K–3, Morris Elementary serves grades 4–5, and McKinleyville Middle serves grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, all three were below state proficiency rates in both ELA and math: their average results were 35% in ELA versus 49% statewide, and 26% in math versus 38%. The biggest shared concern is that every school’s reported ELA and math results fell short of the state.

Morris led all-grades ELA at 40%, 9 points above Dow’s Prairie, the lowest at 31%; McKinleyville Middle was at 33%. In math, Dow’s Prairie led at 29%, 6 points above McKinleyville Middle at 23%, the lowest; Morris scored 25%. McKinleyville Middle had the stronger of the two reported science results, 28% versus Morris at 27%. Grade-level results also point to a particular challenge in seventh grade at McKinleyville Middle: ELA was 29% versus 51% statewide, and math was 16% versus 38%. Because the schools serve different grades, all-grades comparisons are not like-grade rankings; seventh grade is the largest grade-specific shortfall reported.

Recent results vary by subject, and the two schools with year-to-year data did not improve consistently. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, their average gap to the state widened by 1 point in ELA and 6 points in math, while the science comparison shifted 14 points away from the state. Morris’s science score fell 19 points, from 46% to 27%; McKinleyville Middle’s ELA gap narrowed by 3 points. SchoolDigger ranks McKinleyville Union Elementary 697 out of 968, at the 28th percentile with one star; its school percentiles are 32 for McKinleyville Middle and 35 for Morris. Reported 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios range from 17.9 at McKinleyville Middle to 28.3 at Morris. The 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible measures range from 53% at McKinleyville Middle to 64% at Dow’s Prairie; these figures provide context, not an explanation for test results.