Alexander Graham Bell Elementary, Kirkland WA

Original Research by School Decision on Alexander Graham Bell Elementary

Alexander Graham Bell Elementary is a regular public school in Kirkland, Washington, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It belongs to the Lake Washington School District, which covers most of Kirkland and nearby areas. The school is situated in a dense, compact suburban community east of Seattle, where the downtown waterfront includes parks, restaurants, galleries, and a performing arts center. The city has grown substantially through annexations in recent decades, and it hosts major employers such as EvergreenHealth, Google, and Salesforce. Housing in the school’s zip code is expensive, with home values well above national and state medians and monthly rents that require a significant share of household income. The local housing market has seen a modest decline in values recently, though the area remains a high-cost place to live.

Academically, Bell Elementary’s students perform above the midpoint among elementary schools across King County, based on an overall proficiency index that averages results across tested subjects and grades. On the most recent state assessments, math proficiency varies by grade, with students in the earlier tested grades showing higher proficiency than those in the upper elementary grades, though overall the share meeting the standard is roughly in the range of half to a little more than half. In English language arts, results also vary by grade, with the strongest reading and writing proficiency appearing in fifth grade. Science results, tested only in fifth grade, show a solid majority of students meeting the standard. Because the state’s testing program changed in the 2024-25 school year, there is only one year of comparable data so far, making it impossible to see whether performance is improving or declining.

About a quarter of the school’s students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is moderate for a suburban elementary school in this region. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: just under half of students are white, roughly one in five are Hispanic, another one in five are Asian, and the remaining students are Black, multiracial, or American Indian. Data on the number of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available in the source material, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.

As a PK-through-5 school, Bell Elementary does not report a graduation rate or chronic absenteeism rate, which are metrics typically tracked for secondary schools. No information on the school’s disciplinary environment, course access, or staffing was provided. The Lake Washington School District has not had any major recent changes in curriculum, boundaries, or property tax measures that were publicly reported, so families can expect a stable administrative context for now.

Families considering Bell Elementary should weigh its solid academic standing relative to other King County schools, its diverse student population, and the high cost of housing in the area. The one-year assessment picture is encouraging but lacks a trend line, and the absence of special population data leaves some questions open about how the school serves students with different learning needs. The school’s location in Kirkland’s dense, amenity-rich suburban setting may appeal to parents who want walkable access to parks, a downtown core, and a short commute to the region’s tech employment centers.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 77% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 78% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 78% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 59% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 79% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 44% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 22% · ▲ 42 pts above district

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

This schoolLake Washington 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-income31%Higher-income65%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income68%40 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income82%42 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income67%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income75%45 pp gap