Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary Sch, Vancouver WA

Original Research by School Decision on Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary Sch

Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary is a regular public school in Vancouver, Washington, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Evergreen School District (Clark), and its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving that grade span. A substantial share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives the school a higher-need profile than many of its neighbors.

The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic population and smaller shares of students who identify as Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or multiracial. The school operates as a standard attendance-area elementary school; it is not a charter, magnet, or Title I school according to available records, though its free-lunch rate suggests it serves a community that would qualify for schoolwide supports. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.

On the most recent state assessments, proficiency rates at Burnt Bridge Creek fell below the midpoint when compared with other elementary schools in Clark County. In both math and English language arts, the share of students meeting the state bar was lower than the district-wide average and well below the top-performing schools in the area. The strongest results were in fifth-grade English, where the proficiency rate reached its highest point across all tested grades and subjects. Math proficiency declined as students moved through the grades, with the fifth-grade rate markedly lower than the third-grade rate. Fifth-grade science proficiency was also below the state benchmark. Because the available data covers only one school year, it is not possible to say whether these results represent a trend or a single-year snapshot.

The school’s location in East Vancouver places it in a part of the city that is largely suburban and auto-dependent. The neighborhood around NE 49th Street is residential, with typical suburban street patterns and limited walkability. Families in this area rely on cars for most errands and commutes. Vancouver itself is a fast-growing city, with significant annexation activity and new development along the waterfront and downtown. The city is part of the Portland metropolitan area, and many residents commute across the Columbia River for work, which contributes to traffic on the interstate bridges. The Evergreen School District, for its part, recently completed a wave of school rebuilds funded by a bond measure, modernizing several aging buildings across the district. It is not clear from available information whether Burnt Bridge Creek was among the schools rebuilt or upgraded as part of that program, so families should confirm its current facility condition.

For a parent evaluating Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary, the primary consideration is the academic profile. Proficiency rates are below the district and county medians, and the pattern of declining math scores across grades four and five is a soft spot worth understanding. The school serves a population with high economic need, and its results may reflect the challenges that come with that context. A family that values strong test scores or a school with consistent high performance relative to its peers will likely find other options in the Vancouver area. However, the school is by no means an outlier in its region; it sits among a broader group of Clark County elementary schools with similar demographics and similar proficiency levels. A parent may want to visit, talk to the principal about how the school addresses its math declines, and ask about the programs and supports available for students who are not meeting benchmarks. The remodel and rebuild efforts in the district mean some schools have new or upgraded facilities, and that may be a factor in school choice as well.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 40% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 42% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 32% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 33% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 42% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolEvergreen School District (Clark), 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-income21%Higher-income41%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income46%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income50%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income68%47 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income46%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income38%22 pp gap