The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Math. The lowest is 22% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Robert Gray Elementary
Robert Gray Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Aberdeen, Washington, as part of the Aberdeen School District. The school is a regular public school that is not a charter or magnet. It enrolls a student body that is roughly evenly split between students who identify as white and those who identify as Hispanic, with a small number of students identifying with other racial or ethnic groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a measure that points to the economic makeup of the families the school serves.
Robert Gray Elementary is located in Aberdeen, the largest city in Grays Harbor County and the region’s economic center. The city has been navigating a shift away from its historic reliance on timber, fishing, and natural resource export toward a more diversified mix of retail, industry, and tourism. The population has remained essentially flat over the past two decades. Aberdeen serves as a regional hub for the Olympic Peninsula, with major employers including the Port of Grays Harbor, Grays Harbor Community Hospital, and a range of industrial and retail firms. Housing values in the area are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and rents are moderate as well.
The school’s state test results from the most recent testing year provide a picture of where students stand. In math, about a third of third graders met the state proficiency standard, while about a fifth of fourth graders did. Fifth grade math results were suppressed in the available data, so a public figure is not reported. In English language arts, proficiency rates were roughly one in seven for third graders, one in five for fourth graders, and just over one in four for fifth graders. In science, about a quarter of fifth graders met the standard. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quarter relative to other school districts in Grays Harbor County. Because this is elementary-only, there is no graduation rate to consider, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available for the school.
A parent looking at these results will see that the majority of students at Robert Gray are not yet meeting state proficiency benchmarks in math, reading, or science. The numbers are lower than what many families hope to see, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about the specific supports in place for students who are below grade level, how the school identifies struggling readers early, and what interventions are used in math. It would also be reasonable to ask about the school’s approach to the pre-kindergarten program and how that feeds into readiness for kindergarten, given that early learning can play a role in later academic outcomes.
The school sits within the Aberdeen School District, which in early 2022 saw voters approve a replacement levy to fund educational programs, staffing, athletics, and extracurricular activities. That levy is a sign of community investment in the district’s schools, though it also has a direct effect on local property taxes.
In terms of the community setting, Aberdeen offers a historic downtown with a brick-built character following an early fire, a public library that is the largest in the county, and bus transit through Grays Harbor Transit. The city is a gateway to the Pacific Coast and Olympic National Park. For a family considering Robert Gray Elementary, the school serves a high-poverty population in a stable, mid-sized town that is working through economic transition. The academic picture is one where most students are not yet meeting state standards, and the school’s performance sits well below the midpoint of Grays Harbor County districts. A parent would want to engage directly with the school and district to understand the improvement strategies, class sizes, and enrichment programs that sit outside the state test results.
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