Farwell Elementary School, Spokane WA

Original Research by School Decision on Farwell Elementary School

Farwell Elementary School sits in the Mead School District, on Spokane’s north side. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade and has a substantial enrollment for an elementary school. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of students who are two or more races and small representations of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Just over two fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that is present but not dominant.

The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It does not serve grades that produce a graduation rate, and the data does not include information on the share of students with individualized education programs or English learner status, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support programs. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism rates were also not available, which leaves a gap in understanding the school’s climate and support structures for families weighing it as an option.

On state testing, Farwell Elementary shows a pattern that is above the median among elementary schools in Spokane County, falling in the top quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In math, the share of students meeting the state standard declines slightly by grade: third grade posts a solid result, fourth grade is a step lower, and fifth grade is lower still. In English language arts, the trend flattens or edges upward, with fourth and fifth grade both stronger than third. In science, which is tested only in fifth grade, a clear majority of students meet the standard. The overall proficiency index across all subjects and grades puts the school in a strong position relative to its county peers, though the decline in math scores from third to fifth is a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand how math instruction progresses.

The school’s location in Spokane means families have access to a mid-sized city with a genuine downtown core, a historic riverfront park, and a mix of cultural and recreational amenities. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to western Washington, with home values and rents below the state average. The Mead School District itself recently passed a replacement educational programs and operations levy with strong voter support, which funds a portion of the operating budget for staff, curriculum, technology, and extracurriculars through 2027. That levy passage signals community backing for the district’s funding model and provides a measure of stability for programming at Farwell and other district schools.

For a family choosing an elementary school, Farwell presents as an academically solid option within a district that has recently secured its operating budget. The school’s size is large enough to offer the social scale of a full elementary, and its economic diversity is moderate. The lack of data on special education and English learner populations, discipline, and attendance is a limitation in this profile. A parent interested in those areas would need to follow up directly with the school. The math trend across grades is the one academic soft spot worth a conversation, but the overall proficiency picture is above most Spokane County peers and the school sits in a district with stable funding and a city with ample civic amenities.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 73% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 64% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 64% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

This schoolMead 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-income37%Higher-income77%40 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income79%46 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income77%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income42%Higher-income90%48 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income49%Higher-income82%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income73%40 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income72%39 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income71%35 pp gap