Best Public Schools in Zip Code 98626

ZIP code 98626 includes 12 schools serving about 4,941 students from elementary through high school, plus alternative and virtual programs, all within the Kelso School District in the Kelso area.

Elementary performance varies considerably. Lexington Elementary has the strongest overall ranking at the 58th percentile and exceeds district results in English language arts, math, and science. Rose Valley Elementary has the highest current elementary ELA and math results, at 57.58% and 53.54%, respectively, although its science score is weaker. Carrolls Elementary stands out in third grade, with 70.83% proficiency in both ELA and math, while Butler Acres Elementary leads in fourth-grade ELA and math. However, both schools show much weaker fifth-grade math results. Wallace Elementary has improved recently but remains among the lowest-ranked schools, while Barnes Elementary also reports relatively low current ELA and math performance.

Among middle schools, Coweeman Middle School is stronger than Huntington Middle School, particularly in math and science. At the high-school level, Kelso High School has the strongest completion outcomes, with a 90.2% graduation rate and a 4.7% dropout rate, but math proficiency is a major concern at just 15.2%. Kelso Virtual Academy, Loowit High School, and Kelso Goal Oriented Learning Design serve smaller or specialized populations, so their results may be less stable or incomplete. Overall, the most important area for improvement is secondary math, while families should also examine grade-level results and remember that suppressed figures are unknown, not zero.