Best Public Schools in Zip Code 98944

ZIP code 98944 includes eight schools in and around Sunnyside, Washington, serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the Sunnyside School District. The schools enroll about 6,147 students, and the area’s schools generally perform below Washington averages. The district ranks 222nd of 238 statewide districts, placing it in the 7th percentile. Economic need is also high, with more than 80% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch at every school with reported data.

Among elementary schools, Washington Elementary has the strongest overall academic profile, leading local elementary schools in English language arts and math, with 29.68% and 32.56% of students proficient, respectively. Outlook Elementary School has the area’s best science result at 38.57% and the lowest student-teacher ratio, but its ELA performance is weaker. Pioneer Elementary School showed encouraging year-to-year gains, especially in science, while Chief Kamiakin Elementary School had lower recent results. Sun Valley Elementary School serves only pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, so it has no comparable test scores or school ranking.

For middle school, Harrison Middle School currently outperforms Sierra Vista Middle School in all three tested subjects, especially science. Sierra Vista nevertheless improved in ELA, math, and science from the previous year. Sunnyside High School has the strongest ELA performance in the ZIP code at 40.60%, but its math proficiency is only 6.67%, making high-school math the clearest academic concern. Its graduation rate is 80.2%, below the state’s 82.6%, while its dropout rate is 11.4%. Overall, math improvement, elementary literacy, student completion, and sustaining recent science gains are the most important priorities.