Best Public Schools in Zip Code 98901

ZIP code 98901 includes seven public schools serving elementary, middle, and high school students, with about 4,781 students across the East Valley School District (Yakima) and Yakima School District. The area has a wide range of school performance: East Valley schools generally rank near the state’s middle, while the Yakima schools included here rank considerably lower. East Valley’s three schools—East Valley Elementary, East Valley Central Middle School, and East Valley High School—are each at about the 55th percentile statewide.

East Valley High School stands out for its 93.5% graduation rate, 2.8% dropout rate, and strong 70.27% ELA proficiency, although math is a notable weakness at 26.46%. For elementary families, East Valley Elementary has the strongest math and science results in the area, with 52.33% and 55.79% proficiency, respectively. East Valley Central Middle School also shows encouraging momentum, improving in ELA, math, and science and reaching 55th percentile overall. Among the remaining elementary schools, Terrace Heights Elementary has made steady recent gains, while Barge-Lincoln Elementary School improved its ranking despite continuing to post low proficiency rates.

The greatest academic challenges are at Washington Middle School and Adams Elementary School, which rank at the 7th and 6th percentiles, respectively. Washington Middle is below the state average in all three tested subjects, while Adams is especially weak in science, with 10.81% proficiency. Barge-Lincoln Elementary School ranks higher than those two schools but remains well below the state average. The schools with the lowest results also have the highest free- and reduced-price lunch participation, indicating that families are comparing schools operating in different levels of economic need. Overall, the most important differences are the strong East Valley results, East Valley High’s math gap, and the need for sustained improvement at the lowest-ranked schools.