Summary:
Zip code 98338 has nine public schools serving about 5,974 students from elementary through high school, all within the Bethel School District, which ranks near the middle of Washington districts. The area’s strongest overall results are in elementary school, where average math and science proficiency exceeds both district and state levels. Graham Elementary leads the area at the 72nd statewide percentile, with 56.5% proficiency in ELA, 61.3% in math, and 56.0% in science. Nelson Elementary School has the next-highest elementary math result at 55.9%, while North Star Elementary leads in science at 62.0%.
Elementary performance is not uniform. Kapowsin Elementary has shown the largest ranking improvement, rising from the 38th to the 55th percentile over three years. Rocky Ridge Elementary also posts solid science and math results. In contrast, Centennial Elementary ranks lowest among the elementary schools at the 38th percentile, with achievement below district and state results in all three tested subjects. Parents should also note that grade-level differences are sizable, particularly weaker fourth-grade ELA and fifth-grade math results at several schools. Lunch-program participation and spending vary across schools, but neither provides a simple explanation for performance differences.
Cougar Mountain Middle School is the stronger middle school, ranking at the 56th percentile and outperforming Frontier Middle School in ELA and science. Math is a shared weakness, with both middle schools near 34% proficiency. At the high-school level, Graham Kapowsin High School combines a strong 93.1% graduation rate and low 4.6% dropout rate with above-average ELA performance. However, only 23.5% of students meet the reported math standard, making middle- and high-school math the clearest improvement priority in the area.
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