Cascadia Elementary, Ferndale WA

Original Research by School Decision on Cascadia Elementary

Cascadia Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in the Ferndale School District, in Whatcom County. It is a regular public school and sits as one of the elementary options within the district. The school’s enrollment is moderate in size for an elementary school serving this grade band. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller but present Asian student group; the shares of Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial students are each much smaller. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a metric that indicates a high level of economic need among the families the school serves.

On the Washington state assessments administered in the most recent school year, the school’s results show clear differences between subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, third-grade students posted a low proficiency rate, fourth graders posted a higher rate, and fifth graders posted the highest among the three tested grades. The same pattern held in math: third-grade proficiency was low, while both fourth and fifth graders scored at a noticeably higher level. In science, which the state tests only in fifth grade, the proficiency rate for that grade was roughly in line with the school’s stronger results in math and reading at that same grade level. Looking at the school’s overall performance composite across all tested subjects and grades, it sits in the bottom quartile among elementary schools within Whatcom County’s districts. The single year of data available means there is no trend to examine yet; a parent may want to see how these numbers shift in future years to get a clearer picture of the school’s academic trajectory.

Because Cascadia is an elementary school that stops at fifth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and the school does not offer advanced placement, dual-credit, or career-technical course access in the standard sense. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, and student-teacher ratios were not included in the available information, so it is not possible to speak to those aspects of the school environment. Similarly, the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not reported in the materials reviewed.

The housing market around the school’s zip code shows home values that are a bit higher than the Washington state average, and rents have been rising. The national affordability context suggests that for the median-earning household, buying a home in this area would be a stretch relative to renting, and the current mortgage rate environment keeps monthly costs elevated. None of this changes the fact that the school itself draws from a high-needs population, as indicated by the share of students receiving meal assistance.

The school is located on Church Road in Ferndale, a city that has seen growth and development in recent years. The Ferndale School District has been active with bond and levy measures, and a parent moving into the area may want to ask the district office about current class sizes, specialist staffing, and any programs for students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks in reading or math. The school’s standing as a regular public elementary means it follows the district’s standard curriculum and calendar. For a family weighing options, Cascadia’s strongest reported results are in the upper elementary grades, and the biggest gap is in early literacy, which a parent with a child entering kindergarten or first grade might want to investigate directly with the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 37% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 35% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 34% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 43% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 47% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 8 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 3Lower-income21%Higher-income32%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income43%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income57%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income31%Higher-income23%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income57%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income57%29 pp gap