Original Research by School Decision on Options High School
Options High School is the alternative high school within the Bellingham School District, serving students in grades nine through twelve in the city of Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham itself is a mid-sized city with a residential university-town character, home to Western Washington University. The school is not a charter or magnet school, and its alternative school designation shapes everything about the experience it offers.
The enrollment is relatively small for a high school serving four grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic or Latino population and even smaller shares of other racial and ethnic groups. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a substantial share of families experience economic need. The school does not report counts of students with Individualized Education Programs or English learner status, so a parent interested in those supports should ask the school directly.
State testing data is available for a single school year, so there are no trends to examine. In English language arts, about two out of every five students met the proficiency standard. In math, that figure was lower, with roughly one in six students proficient. In science, about two in five students met the bar. These are the school’s reported proficiency rates, and a parent evaluating academic preparation here would want to understand how the school’s instructional approach and student support systems connect to these results.
Because Options High School is an alternative school within the larger Bellingham School District, a few important metrics do not apply in the way they do for a conventional comprehensive high school. The comparison to other districts in Whatcom County could not generate a valid proficiency index, four-year graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism rate for this school, given its status. That is common for alternative schools, which often serve students who have not succeeded in traditional settings and may operate on different timelines and measures. A parent should not read the absence of these comparison figures as a weakness; instead, they should treat it as a sign that the school's mission likely differs from that of a standard high school.
The Bellingham School District has seen some notable developments. Voters approved a capital bond and a technology levy in 2022, which are funding facility improvements, safety upgrades, and student technology through 2026. The district has also been expanding the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program across its elementary schools, with two more elementary schools adopting the program in 2022 and 2024. Options High School itself did not appear in any of the district brief’s cited changes, which focused on bond-funded infrastructure and elementary pedagogy shifts.
For a family considering Options High School, the picture is one of a small, alternative-pathway high school in a university city. The testing data shows a student body where proficiency in math is notably lower than in English and science. The school serves a population with higher economic need than the district overall might suggest. The alternative designation means the school may offer flexible scheduling, smaller class sizes, or different graduation requirements, but the data provided does not detail those specifics. A parent would be wise to visit the school and ask directly about the structure of the academic program, what supports are in place for students who arrive below grade level, and how the school measures progress and success for its particular student population. This is a school that likely defines itself by meeting students where they are rather than by competitive metrics, and that is a fit for some families and not for others.
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