Original Research by School Decision on Burlington Edison High School
Burlington Edison High School serves about a thousand students in grades nine through twelve, making it the comprehensive public high school for the Burlington-Edison School District in Skagit County. The student body is roughly split between students who identify as white and those who identify as Hispanic, with smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races, Asian, Black, and other groups. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a measure that indicates a substantial share of families have lower household incomes.
State testing results for the most recent school year show that in English language arts, just over half of students met the proficiency standard. In science, about three in five students met the standard. Math proficiency is notably lower, with roughly one in four students reaching the proficiency benchmark. These results place Burlington Edison below the midpoint among districts in Skagit County in overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A parent may want to ask the school about math instruction and student support in that subject, as the gap between math and other tested areas stands out. Graduation rate data was not available for this report.
The school sits in Burlington, which publicly reported sources describe as a former logging camp and dairy farming center that has developed a strong commercial strip along Burlington Boulevard. The city is growing, with population increasing since the last census. Agriculture and retail are major parts of the local economy, though a large mall in town closed permanently in 2020. The city center has been revitalized around Fairhaven Avenue, with a new library and city hall, a visitor information center, and a park with an amphitheater that hosts community events. The housing market in the area shows home values that are somewhat below the state median, and rents have been rising faster than the national average. Mortgage costs relative to local incomes suggest affordability is a stretch for many households.
At the school itself, we looked for information on discipline rates, course access, staffing levels, and chronic absenteeism, but none of that data was available. Similarly, the district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as levy or bond measures, boundary adjustments, or curriculum shifts.
Burlington Edison offers the standard high school experience for its attendance zone, serving a community that is growing economically and demographically. The academic profile shows a school where a majority of students are meeting the bar in English and science, while math is an area where the school and families may want to focus attention. The student body is economically diverse, and the school population is roughly half white and half Hispanic. For a family considering this area, the broader community context of a growing, agricultural-turned-commercial town with a limited downtown core and rising rental costs is as relevant as the school’s test results.
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