Horizon Middle School, Ferndale WA

Original Research by School Decision on Horizon Middle School

Horizon Middle School is a regular public school in Ferndale, Washington, serving grades six through eight as part of the Ferndale School District. Its enrollment is moderate for a middle school, and the student body is notably diverse. White students form the largest group, followed by Hispanic students and a substantial number of American Indian or Alaska Native students, along with smaller populations who identify as two or more races, Asian, Black, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. A significant share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a level of economic need that may shape the resources and support available.

State test results are available for math, English language arts, and science across several grades, though results for fifth grade are suppressed, likely because that grade is not tested at this school. In math, proficiency rates vary by grade but are generally lower than in ELA. Seventh and eighth grade math show roughly one-quarter to one-third of students meeting the standard, while sixth grade math is somewhat higher. English language arts performance is more mixed: sixth and seventh grade proficiency is around two-fifths, while eighth grade reaches about half of students meeting the standard. Science results for eighth grade show roughly two-fifths proficient. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among districts in Whatcom County. This suggests that while some individual grade levels and subjects show respectable outcomes, the school as a whole has room for improvement, particularly in mathematics.

No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing is available, so a parent cannot assess those dimensions from this record. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Trends over multiple years are absent; only a single year of academic data is present, making it impossible to tell whether performance is stable, improving, or declining.

We looked for information about the city of Ferndale and recent district initiatives—such as bonds, levies, or curriculum changes—but found little publicly reported material to draw on, so that context is not included here rather than guessed.

Home values and rents in the area are above the national median, reflecting typical patterns for the region, but the data does not include detail on how these costs compare to local incomes or what the housing market means for families choosing this school.

For a family considering Horizon Middle School, the picture is one of a diverse, economically mixed student body and academic results that are uneven. Strengths appear in eighth grade English language arts and to some degree in science, while math performance is a softer area that a parent may want to discuss with the school directly. The lack of data on attendance, staffing, and program offerings means those questions would need to be answered through a visit or conversation with the school. As a regular public middle school, it serves a defined neighborhood and grade band without the specialized focus of a magnet or charter.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 37% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 33% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 31% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 44% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 46% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Science

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 40%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolFerndale 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 6Lower-income31%Higher-income53%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income50%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income65%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income47%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income37%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income37%14 pp gap