Best Public Schools in Zip Code 99004

The 99004 area has nine schools serving students from elementary through high school, including traditional schools and smaller alternative programs in the Cheney School District; together, they enroll about 3,855 students. Overall district performance ranks at the 39th percentile statewide, so families will find a mix of strong individual programs and areas needing improvement. Among traditional schools, elementary math results are generally competitive, while math performance becomes a larger concern in middle and high school.

Cheney High School is the strongest comprehensive high school. It has a 94.4% graduation rate, a 3.2% dropout rate, and a 57th-percentile statewide ranking that has improved considerably. Its ELA proficiency is excellent at 65.88%, although math is much weaker at 31.53%. At the elementary level, Betz Elementary is the clearest standout, especially in science, where 71.05% of students are proficient. It also performs above the district in ELA and math. Phil Snowdon Elementary has the best student-teacher ratio among the traditional elementary schools and the strongest elementary math result at 42.97%. Salnave Elementary is more uneven, with strong third-grade math but substantially weaker fifth-grade results. Cheney Middle School has lower achievement than the elementary schools, particularly in math.

The alternative and specialized programs require more cautious comparisons because they serve smaller, distinct student populations and often have suppressed or older data. HomeWorks had strong prior-year results, but its latest scores are suppressed. Three Springs High School has improved its ranking but reports a 69.0% graduation rate and low ELA proficiency. WIN Academy reports a 64.8% graduation rate and a high dropout rate, while Cheney Open Doors is too small and has outdated outcome data for meaningful current comparisons. The most important systemwide opportunity is improving math achievement during the transition from elementary to secondary school, while providing targeted support for students in alternative high-school programs.