Esquire Hills Elementary, Bremerton WA

Original Research by School Decision on Esquire Hills Elementary

Esquire Hills Elementary is a regular public school serving preschool through fifth grade in Bremerton, and it sits within the Central Kitsap School District. The school’s population is notably diverse in its racial and ethnic makeup, with a student body where no single group dominates: the largest share is white students, followed by a substantial portion of students who identify as two or more races, a significant Hispanic population, and smaller shares of Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places the school in a context where many families are managing economic pressures.

The academic picture at Esquire Hills shows real variation by grade and subject, and that is the key thing a parent will want to understand. On the state’s math assessments, the school’s third graders met the proficiency bar at a rate that puts the school comfortably above the midpoint among elementary schools in Kitsap County. Fourth-grade math proficiency is squarely in the middle of that pack. Fifth-grade math, however, drops to a level where a minority of students are on track, and a parent may want to ask what supports are in place for older elementary students with math. In English language arts, third and fourth graders both demonstrate proficiency rates that exceed the performance typical of the elementary schools in the county, and this is a clear strength of the school. Fifth-grade ELA results, while still landing above the midpoint in the county, fall below the rates seen in the earlier grades. Fifth-grade science proficiency also sits in a modest range. The pattern of higher proficiency in the early grades and a notable drop-off by fifth grade is worth a conversation with the school. The overall proficiency index across all tested grades and subjects is above the midpoint relative to other elementary schools in Kitsap County, which gives the school a solid position among its peers, but the uneven grade-level results mean the experience a child has may look quite different depending on when they arrive.

For context, Bremerton is the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula and is shaped heavily by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Naval Base Kitsap, which are the dominant employers. The school itself sits in East Bremerton, one of the city’s nine neighborhoods. The city overall is a mix of residential neighborhoods, a revitalized downtown waterfront district with breweries, galleries, and a ferry terminal, and the naval infrastructure. The downtown area has seen a decade of reinvestment, with new apartments and restored buildings. Housing values in the school’s zip code sit in a moderately priced range for the region, though the cost of a home relative to national incomes is elevated, and the monthly cost of owning is meaningfully higher than renting.

The Central Kitsap School District, which operates Esquire Hills, has some recent developments relevant to families. In 2023 voters approved a capital bond to modernize Central Kitsap High School and Central Kitsap Middle School, with construction underway and expected completion by 2026. The district also shifted to a new elementary literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading, adopted in the 2022-2023 school year, which represents a district-wide change in how reading is taught in the early grades.

State testing data was available for the 2024-2025 school year, and that is the only year of results reported, so there is no multi-year trend to examine. Data on discipline, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, and special education or English learner counts were not available. A parent who is evaluating the school for a child with specific learning needs may want to ask the school directly about those supports. The overall academic picture is one of strong early literacy instruction, a weaker middle-elementary math and science showing, and a fifth-grade dip that would be worth investigating further with the principal or classroom teachers.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 53% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 49% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 41% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 53% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 57% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 27% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 27% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

This schoolCentral Kitsap School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income58%Higher-income76%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income82%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income56%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income81%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income63%Higher-income68%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income72%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income26%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income37%8 pp gap