Inchelium Middle School

Inchelium Middle School is a small public school serving grades 6–8 in the rural community of Inchelium, Washington, with 47 students. The school is part of the Inchelium School District and serves a community with substantial economic need: 82.98% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–25. Its small enrollment can make year-to-year results change noticeably when only a few students perform differently.

Recent achievement results show that math is the school’s biggest academic challenge. In 2025–26, 18% of students were proficient in math, compared with 28.04% districtwide and 43.11% statewide. ELA performance was higher at 34%, but still below the district’s 40.19% and Washington’s 52.81%. Sixth-grade ELA was a relative bright spot, with 50% proficiency compared with 48.27% statewide. In math, reported results were low in both sixth grade, at 20%, and eighth grade, at 18.75%; seventh-grade math data were suppressed. Science results were also suppressed, so they should be considered unknown rather than low. The school’s student-teacher ratio was 10.7 to 1 in 2024–25, which may support individualized attention, although that figure does not by itself measure instructional quality.

Despite current results below state averages, the school has made meaningful long-term progress. Its statewide ranking improved from approximately the 1st percentile in 2018–19 to approximately the 32nd percentile in 2025–26. ELA improved substantially from 12.77% proficiency in 2023–24 to 34% most recently, while math rose from 11.36% to 18% after a weaker intervening year. The school also ranked 1st out of 4 schools for Native American students in 2024–25, an encouraging but small-group comparison that should be interpreted cautiously. No other schools are within 20 miles, so a nearby-school comparison is not available; the most useful benchmarks are the district, state, and the school’s own improvement over time.