Inchelium High School

Inchelium High School is a small public high school in the remote community of Inchelium, Washington, serving 62 students in grades 9–12 through the Inchelium School District. The student-teacher ratio was 14.2:1 in 2024–25, and about 79% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-need setting. There are no other schools within 20 miles, so the most useful comparisons are with the district and Washington statewide averages.

Academically, English Language Arts is the school’s strongest current area. In 2025–26, 52.94% of students were proficient in ELA, nearly identical to Washington’s 52.81% and above the district’s 40.19%. Math proficiency was 29.41%, slightly above the district’s 28.04% but well below the state’s 43.11%, making mathematics the clearest ongoing challenge. ELA results have generally exceeded the district’s results but have varied considerably, falling from 70% in 2024–25 to 52.94% most recently. Science proficiency is unavailable because the state suppressed the school’s figure; this should not be interpreted as zero or low performance.

Graduation and dropout results have also changed sharply from year to year, which is common for a school with very small student cohorts. Graduation ranged from 47% to 84.2% in the reported years and was 75% in 2023–24, below Washington’s 82.7%. The reported dropout rate reached 41.1% in 2021–22, compared with 10.0% statewide. Despite these concerns, the school’s long-term ranking has improved from the lowest statewide percentiles in earlier years to the 42nd percentile and a 2-star rating in 2025–26, after reaching the 62nd percentile the previous year. Its low-income subgroup ranking also improved substantially, from the 1st percentile in 2020–21 to the 44th percentile most recently. High per-student spending—$35,583 in 2023–24—likely reflects the costs of operating a very small, isolated school.