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Alderwood Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-5
985th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,138 Washington Elementary Schools
Better than 13% of Washington elementary schools
Summary

Alderwood Elementary School is a public school in Bellingham, Washington, serving 305 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Bellingham School District, an area with several nearby elementary-school options within roughly two to five miles. The district ranks in the 65th percentile statewide, but Alderwood’s 2025–2026 school ranking was in the 13th percentile, an improvement from 7th percentile the previous year. The school serves a higher-poverty student population than most nearby schools, an important consideration when comparing results.

Alderwood’s academic proficiency is well below district and state averages. In 2025–2026, 26.24% of students were proficient in English language arts, 19.42% in math, and 37.50% in science. Math is the weakest area, with fewer than one in five students meeting standards. Among nearby schools with reported results, Alderwood had the second-lowest ELA and math scores, ahead of only Cordata Elementary School. It also had the third-lowest known science result. Birchwood Elementary School, which has a similar socioeconomic profile, performed somewhat better in ELA and math, while Carl Cozier Elementary School and Roosevelt Elementary School were considerably stronger overall.

Third grade is the clearest concern: only 6.38% of third graders were proficient in ELA and 10.87% in math. Schoolwide ELA and math results have also declined steadily since 2022–2023, although science improved from the prior year and the overall ranking rose modestly. Alderwood reported relatively high spending—$22,963 per student—and a favorable 14.1-to-1 student-teacher ratio, so the central question is how resources are being used. Parents may want to ask about early literacy, math intervention, third-grade support, attendance, staffing stability, and services for students needing additional help. Nearby schools such as Lowell Elementary School, Sunnyland Elementary School, and Parkview Elementary School currently report substantially higher outcomes.

305
Students ?
14.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$23,194
Per pupil spending ?
65.6%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
88.2%
Kindergartners complete for all required immunizations (2025-26)
Exemptions: 2.9% (any vaccine)
 3400 Hollywood Ave
       Bellingham, WA  98225-1134

(360) 676-6404

District: Bellingham School District


Students who attend Alderwood Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Shuksan Middle School
High:    Squalicum High School
Racial breakdown:

White:
48.9%
Hispanic:
37.0%
Two or more races:
9.2%
more
 See top rated Washington elementary schools

 Compare Alderwood Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 49th percentile in 2015 → 13th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Washington average (25% vs 48% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (13th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 36 percentile points since 2015
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school25%
District avg52%
Washington avg48%
985th of 1,138
Washington public elementary schools ?
Bottom 13%▼ down 34 pts since 2016
From bottom 48% (2016) to bottom 13% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Washington Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
12th of 13Elementary Schools in the Bellingham School District
83rd of 238Bellingham School District among Washington districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202613.5985 of 113813.4%★☆☆☆☆
202511.21074 of 11607.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202421.0955 of 116818.2%★☆☆☆☆
202325.1914 of 116921.8%★☆☆☆☆
202221.7946 of 116919.1%★☆☆☆☆
202116.6944 of 110714.7%★☆☆☆☆
201910.61055 of 11306.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201820.3869 of 105417.6%★☆☆☆☆
201648.8550 of 105347.8%★★☆☆☆
201549.1546 of 106748.8%★★☆☆☆
201353.1555 of 110649.8%★★★☆☆
201237.3758 of 109730.9%★★☆☆☆
201140.4691 of 109236.7%★★☆☆☆
201023.4907 of 108816.6%★☆☆☆☆
200925.4864 of 107219.4%★☆☆☆☆
200831.6791 of 106725.9%★☆☆☆☆
200742.1654 of 106938.8%★★☆☆☆
200628.4821 of 105121.9%★☆☆☆☆
200541.7652 of 103136.8%★★☆☆☆
200439.5645 of 102637.1%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
201831.1261 of 33321.6%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202627.0781 of 102023.4%★☆☆☆☆
202515.7970 of 109211.2%★☆☆☆☆
202424.1853 of 109322.0%★☆☆☆☆
202334.2717 of 109434.5%★★☆☆☆
202234.5728 of 110033.8%★★☆☆☆
202117.4883 of 100812.4%★☆☆☆☆
201922.3878 of 106817.8%★☆☆☆☆
201835.2672 of 100433.1%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202649.2340 of 64947.6%★★☆☆☆
202223.2593 of 69414.6%★☆☆☆☆
201931.8509 of 69727.0%★☆☆☆☆
201817.4497 of 5408.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202624.3840 of 100816.7%★☆☆☆☆
202514.2943 of 10136.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202426.1822 of 102419.7%★☆☆☆☆
202336.2684 of 101332.5%★★☆☆☆
202229.3791 of 101922.4%★☆☆☆☆
202124.2696 of 85418.5%★☆☆☆☆
201913.6929 of 9795.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202612.0989 of 10596.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202510.61032 of 10986.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202419.7936 of 109914.8%★☆☆☆☆
202318.8941 of 109914.4%★☆☆☆☆
202218.6951 of 111314.6%★☆☆☆☆
202114.6920 of 102510.2%★☆☆☆☆
20196.31051 of 10752.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201812.0928 of 9997.1%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWashington percentileRating
202627.0729 of 90119.1%★☆☆☆☆
202510.5957 of 10075.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202427.1780 of 100922.7%★☆☆☆☆
202337.8647 of 101136.0%★★☆☆☆
202220.9880 of 103114.6%★☆☆☆☆
202123.1764 of 94319.0%★☆☆☆☆
201910.8972 of 10275.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201816.5745 of 83310.6%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Hispanic (2026)48th percentile+34 vs school
Female (2026)23rd percentile+10 vs school
English Language Learner (2018)22nd percentile+4 vs school
White (2026)19th percentile+6 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)17th percentile+3 vs school
Male (2026)7th percentile-7 vs school
By subject vs Washington (2025-2026) ?
Science38%-13 vs state
English Language Arts26%-27 vs state
Math19%-24 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Alderwood Elementary School

Students at Alderwood Elementary School are 49% White, 37% Hispanic, 9% Two or more races, 2% American Indian, 1% African American, 1% Asian.

Alderwood Elementary School ranks in the bottom 13.4% of Washington elementary schools.

Students who attend Alderwood Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Shuksan Middle School
High : Squalicum High School

In the 2024-25 school year, 305 students attended Alderwood Elementary School.

Rate Alderwood Elementary School!



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Latest Washington data All new data »
2024–25 school spending dataNewNov 2, 2026
2016–17 through 2025–26 immunization rates (updated)Oct 19, 2026
2025–26 SBAC & WCAS test scoresSep 10, 2026
2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesJan 8, 2026


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Washington State Department of Health and the Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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