Best Public Schools in Cathlamet, WA

Cathlamet is a small community served by two public schools in the Wahkiakum School District: Julius A Wendt Elementary/John C Thomas Middle School for grades K–8 and Wahkiakum High School for grades 9–12, together serving about 399 students.

Wahkiakum High School is the stronger overall performer by statewide ranking, placing 102nd of 396 high schools in 2025–26, in the 74th percentile, compared with the K–8 school’s 58th percentile. The high school has also improved substantially from its 2023–24 ranking. Its clearest academic strength is science: 57.58% of students were proficient, above both the district and state results. Its available 2021–22 graduation rate was 91.6%, although that figure is from a different year than the current rankings. The school’s main academic concern is math, at 37.5% proficiency compared with 43.11% statewide. Its current all-grades ELA result is suppressed, so it should be treated as unknown rather than as a weak score.

Julius A Wendt Elementary/John C Thomas Middle School has shown meaningful improvement, rising to the 58th percentile in 2025–26 from the 43rd percentile the year before. Science is its strongest all-grades subject, at 52.63%, above the state, while math remains the most consistent area for improvement. Grade-level results vary widely: sixth-grade ELA, fifth-grade math, and fifth-grade science are notable strengths, while third-grade ELA, fourth-grade math, and eighth-grade science trail state results. The two schools have nearly identical student-teacher ratios, around 17.5 to 1, and the K–8 school serves a somewhat larger share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Overall, the district ranks in the 75th percentile statewide, with a strong high school, improving K–8 performance, and science as the common strength.