Cougar Ridge Elementary, Bellevue WA

Original Research by School Decision on Cougar Ridge Elementary

Cougar Ridge Elementary is a regular public school in Bellevue, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Issaquah School District. That means the school draws from a neighborhood that sits within the Bellevue city limits but is governed by a district whose office is in Issaquah. The school is located in a part of Bellevue that is largely residential, with suburban streets and wooded lots, a short drive from the downtown high-rise core.

Academically, Cougar Ridge posts strong results. On the state assessments given in the 2024-25 school year, proficiency rates in reading and math were high across every tested grade, and the fifth-grade science results were similarly strong. When compared against a measure that combines proficiency across subjects and grades, the school lands in the top quartile among districts in King County, meaning its overall performance sits at the high end of a very competitive region. This is a one-year snapshot, so there is no trend yet to show improvement or decline, but the current standing is clear.

The student body is relatively small for a K-5 school. Its composition is notably diverse: the largest groups are students who identify as Asian and as White, followed by those who identify with two or more races, then Hispanic, and a small share who are Black. The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is low, reflecting the overall affluence of the surrounding community. The school does not report the share of students who receive special education services or who are English learners, so families with children in those categories may want to ask the district for those figures directly. Other common data points such as chronic absenteeism and discipline rates were also not available in the public record.

Bellevue itself is a high-cost, fast-growing city anchored by major technology employers like Amazon and T-Mobile. Housing values and rents in the area are among the highest in the state. The city has a well-funded parks system, light rail connections to Seattle and Redmond, and a mix of dense downtown living and quieter neighborhoods. Cougar Ridge sits in one of those quieter parts, where single-family homes and green spaces dominate.

The Issaquah School District, which runs Cougar Ridge, proposed a large capital bond measure in early 2024 to fund school construction and renovations, a sign of both growth pressures and aging infrastructure. Enrollment across the district has edged down in recent years, which can affect school-level planning. For Cougar Ridge, the modest enrollment size and consistent academic performance make it a solid option for families who can manage the area’s cost of living and value a high-performing elementary school in a suburban setting with strong community resources nearby.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 79% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 80% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 76% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 74% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 80% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 83% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 81% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolIssaquah 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

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income91%33 pp gap