One of the most popular questions for families raising kids or moving to the state of Washington is around education. Specifically, what school district? With the help of data companies like school digger and great schools this question has become easier for concerned parents to answer than ever before.
Given the most densely populated areas in the state are within a 30 mile radius of Seattle proper, lets focus our attention here first.
According to School Digger, here are top districts families should consider:
Rank (2017) | District Name | County |
1 | Mercer Island School District | King |
2 | Lake Washington School District | King |
3 | Bainbridge Island School District | Kitsap |
4 | Diernger School District | Pierce |
5 | Issaquah School District | King |
6 | Snoqualmie School District | King |
7 | University Place School District | Pierce |
8 | Shoreline School District | King |
9 | Camas School District | Clark |
10 | Tahoma School District | King |
If you are like many of the families we hear from, there is some other key information you might want to consider like number of students, number of schools per tier, and students / school.
District Name | # of Students |
Ranked Elementary Schools |
Ranked Middle Schools |
Ranked
High Schools |
Mercer Island | 4,493 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Lake Washington | 29,180 | 29 | 11 | 6 |
Bainbridge Island | 3,884 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Diernger | 1,436 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Issaquah | 20,532 | 15 | 4 | 3 |
Snoqualmie | 7,100 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
University Place | 5,714 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Shoreline | 9,659 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
Camas | 7,097 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Tahoma | 8,357 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
One consideration to be mindful of when looking at school districts, is not all schools are created equal. School rating, class size, and student/teach ration can fluctuate dramatically. For instance, on Mercer Island, every school is rated highly, but because there is only one middle school and high school respectively, student / teacher ratio increases markedly.
School Name | Type | Grades | Enrollment | S/T Ratio | Star Rating |
Island Park Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 388 | 15.9 | 5 of 5 |
Islander Middle School |
Public | 6-8 | 1,127 | 21.6 | 5 of 5 |
Lakeridge Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 484 | 18.9 | 5 of 5 |
Mercer Island High School |
Public | 9-12 | 1,500 | 20.9 | 5 of 5 |
Northwood Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 477 | 17.2 | 5 of 5 |
West Mercer Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 517 | 17.4 | 5 of 5 |
However, when you juxtapose this with the Snoqualmie Valley School District, elementary school performance varies. While all have similar class sizes, Snoqualime Elementary and Fall City have 5 stars, whereas Edwin Opal has 4 stars, and North Bend has yet to be rated.
School Name | Type | Grades | Enrollment | S/T Ratio | Star Rating |
Cascade View Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 621 | 22.3 | 5 of 5 |
Chief Kanim Middle School |
Public | 6-8 | 773 | 20.8 | 5 of 5 |
Edwin Opstad Elementary |
Public | PK-5 | 557 | 19.2 | 4 of 5 |
Fall City Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 586 | 19.3 | 5 of 5 |
Mount Si High School |
Public | 9-12 | 1,833 | 23.1 | 4 of 5 |
North Bend Elementary |
Public | K-5 | 462 | 19.2 | |
Snoqualmie Access |
Alt | PK-12 | 72 | ||
Snoqualmie Elementary |
Public | PK-5 | 607 | 17.6 | 5 of 5 |
Snoqualmie Parent Partnership |
Alt | K-10 | 86 | ||
SVSD Open Doors |
Public | 9-12 | 3 |
If you found this analysis helpful, stay tuned for the next article in our series where we breakdown the top real estate trends in the area. Curious about the upcoming election? Check out our politics section for all the latest news and polling analysis.