Lakeland Elementary School, Auburn WA

Original Research by School Decision on Lakeland Elementary School

Lakeland Elementary School serves students in prekindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Federal Way School District, though the school itself is located in Auburn, a mid-sized suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area. The school sits within the Lakeland Hills planned community, a large residential development that grew to include its own elementary school and shopping center, reflecting a decentralized pattern where schools are placed within neighborhoods rather than clustered in Auburn’s historic downtown core.

The student body is racially and economically diverse. White students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students, Asian students, students of two or more races, Black students, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a higher-needs context. Data on the share of students with individualized education programs and those identified as English learners was not available in the profile; a parent may want to ask the school directly about these supports.

State assessment results from the most recent testing year show proficiency rates that trend downward as students move through the grades. In English language arts, third graders met the proficiency bar at a moderate rate, fourth graders at a lower rate, and fifth graders returned to a rate similar to third grade. In math, the pattern is a steady decline from third grade to fifth grade, with the highest rate in third grade and the lowest in fifth grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade, showed just under a third of students meeting the proficiency standard. Overall, across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index places it below the midpoint relative to other schools in King County. These are the only state assessment data available; no prior-year results were reported, so there is no basis for a trend line.

The school is a regular public elementary school with no charter or magnet designation. The Federal Way School District did not have any parent-relevant changes publicly reported in the recent period, so the district context is stable but offers little additional shape for this school.

For a family weighing Lakeland Elementary, the school offers a neighborhood setting within a large planned community in Auburn, a city with a mix of residential areas, industrial employment anchored by the Boeing plant, and a historic downtown with a major transit hub. The housing market in the area carries a typical home value that sits above the national benchmark but below many parts of King County, and rents have been rising modestly. A family moving into Lakeland Hills will find a school that reflects the economic diversity of its attendance zone. The academic picture is one where a parent may want to supplement at home or look into what academic interventions and enrichment the school provides, particularly in math, where proficiency drops off by fifth grade. The school does not serve older grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 36% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 52% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 28% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 32% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 33% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 39% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 33% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

This schoolFederal Way 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-income29%Higher-income61%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income40%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income62%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income73%38 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income52%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income39%22 pp gap