Summary:
ZIP code 98229 has one middle school, Kulshan Middle School, serving grades 6–8 in the Bellingham area. The school enrolls about 575 students and is part of the Bellingham School District. In 2025–26, Kulshan performed above both district and Washington state averages in English language arts, math, and science. Its overall proficiency rates were 63.04% in ELA, 58.97% in math, and 63.95% in science, compared with 52.81%, 43.11%, and 50.95% statewide.
Math is Kulshan’s clearest strength. The school exceeded the state by nearly 16 percentage points overall, with especially strong results in 6th-grade math: 64.52% of students were proficient compared with 39.79% statewide. Seventh-grade math was also strong at 61.58%, while 8th-grade math was lower at 50.00% but still above both comparison groups. ELA results were strongest in 7th grade, at 67.69%, followed by 6th grade at 65.78%. Science proficiency in 8th grade was 63.95%, more than 15 points above the state rate.
The main area to watch is 8th grade, particularly ELA. Kulshan’s 8th-grade ELA proficiency was 54.71%, nearly identical to the district’s 54.73%, although still above the state’s 50.90%. Compared with the prior year, math improved by about 5.5 percentage points, while ELA and science declined modestly. Even so, the school remained highly ranked, placing 77th out of 514 schools and in the 85th percentile in 2025–26, with a four-star rating. Overall, the available data describe Kulshan as a strong middle school with broad academic advantages, especially in math, and a possible need for additional support as students enter 8th grade.
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