Original Research by School Decision on Squalicum High School
Squalicum High School is one of Bellingham’s comprehensive public high schools, serving the southern and eastern parts of the city. It is a regular public school, part of the Bellingham School District, and draws from a broad band of the city’s residential neighborhoods and suburban-style subdivisions that stretch east toward the foothills. With an enrollment size that is fairly typical for a city high school of its grade band, Squalicum offers a full four-year program.
The student body is diverse in composition. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that reflects the economic range of the families it serves. Racially and ethnically, the school is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller but present Asian student group, along with smaller numbers of students who identify as two or more races, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on the share of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or who are English learners was not available, so a family with a child in either category would want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support programs.
On state assessments, Squalicum’s results show a clear subject-level split. In English language arts, a solid majority of students met the state proficiency bar, a level that positions the school in a workable middle ground. In math, the share of students reaching proficiency was below that mark by a wide margin, a pattern that holds across many high schools and that a parent may want to explore further by asking what math course sequencing and support structures are in place. In science, just under half of students were proficient. These are single-year snapshot results; the data shows no prior year for comparison, so there is no trend line to read.
Because Squalicum is a high school, graduation rate and college-going data would be an important part of understanding its outcomes. That data was not available for this report. The school’s website and district reports would be the place to look for graduation rates, postsecondary enrollment, and other longer-term measures.
The Bellingham School District has in recent years invested in facilities and technology, with voters approving a capital bond and a technology levy that run through 2026. The district has also been expanding its International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program into additional elementary schools, though that is at the elementary level and does not directly affect Squalicum’s high school programming. What these district moves signal is a community that has been willing to support school funding, which matters for the condition of buildings and classroom resources.
Bellingham itself is a mid-sized city centered on Western Washington University, with a downtown core and a historic Fairhaven district that give it a distinct sense of place. The city has grown steadily, and housing costs have risen enough that affordability is a real consideration for families. The school sits in a part of town that is more suburban in feel than the older walkable neighborhoods near downtown, and the campus is located on a main east-west road that connects to the interstate for a fairly short commute from most parts of the district.
For a family considering Squalicum, the picture is one of a solidly middle-of-the-road comprehensive high school in a district that has been investing in itself, set in a city with strong civic and university anchors. The math proficiency number is the softest point in the data, and a parent with a student who struggles in math or who needs advanced math pathways would want to get a concrete picture of course offerings and intervention programs. The school’s size and regular public school structure means it offers the typical range of extracurriculars, athletics, and elective pathways, though specific program offerings were not provided in the data. There is no charter or magnet designation, so enrollment follows the standard attendance boundaries. The absence of graduation rate and special education data leaves real gaps in what a family can assess from this profile alone. Those are not signs of a problem; they are simply information that was not pulled into this report, and they are worth seeking out.
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