Summary:
Bellingham School District includes six high-school or high-school-level programs serving grades 6–12 in the Bellingham area of northwest Washington, with 3,851 students overall. The three comprehensive schools—Squalicum High School, Bellingham High School, and Sehome High School—serve about 92% of those students and offer the most complete set of current performance data. The district ranks 83rd among 238 Washington districts, placing it around the 65th percentile.
Among the comprehensive schools, Bellingham High School has the highest current ranking, 58th out of 396 schools, and the strongest ELA result at 72.96%. Sehome High School has the highest graduation rate, at 91.1%, and the strongest science performance, at 69.34%; its dropout rate is also low at 4.6%. Squalicum High School shows the biggest improvement, rising from 226th to 100th in the rankings over three years. It also has an 89.7% graduation rate, the lowest reported dropout rate among the three large schools at 4.2%, and year-over-year gains in ELA, math, and science.
ELA is the clearest shared strength, with all four schools reporting current results above state and district comparisons. Math is the main academic challenge: proficiency is below 46% at each school with available data, including 19.23% at Options High School. Options has improved substantially in ELA and serves a smaller, specialized student population, so its results should not be compared directly with comprehensive schools without considering its mission. The Bellingham Re-Engagement Program and Visions (Seamar Youth Center) are also specialized programs with limited current data. Parents comparing traditional high schools will find strong overall options, with Bellingham leading in ranking, Sehome in graduation and science, and Squalicum in recent improvement.
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