Jefferson Elementary, Mount Vernon WA

Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Mount Vernon, a midsized city that functions as the county seat and commercial hub of the Skagit River Valley. The school sits on the east side of town, roughly a short drive from the historic downtown core that anchors civic life with the county courthouse, the newly opened Library Commons, and the Lincoln Theatre. The surrounding area is heavily agricultural, known for the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and Mount Vernon itself has seen modest population growth over the past several decades, with recent investments including a permanent flood wall and a major new community center downtown.

The school enrolls a student body that is ethnically diverse. Just over half of students identify as Hispanic, a substantial share are white, and smaller numbers identify as Asian, Black, or multiracial. A significant majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with considerable economic need. The neighborhood around the school is a mix of residential and commercial uses, and the broader city is oriented around Interstate 5, meaning car travel is typical outside of downtown. Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to the state, with home values and rents that have been rising in recent years, adding to affordability pressures for many families.

State testing results from the most recent school year provide a picture of academic performance that families will want to weigh carefully. In English language arts, proficiency rates varied by grade, with the strongest result in fifth grade and a notably lower result in third grade. In math, rates were somewhat more consistent across grades but remained below the level many families hope to see. Science proficiency in fifth grade was higher than both math and English results. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects places the school above the midpoint among districts in Skagit County. The district recently adopted a new elementary literacy curriculum called EL Education, which began in the 2023-24 school year and includes an initiative to stock classrooms with diverse, culturally responsive texts. The district also began implementing a Multi-Tiered System of Supports around the same time, a framework designed to provide targeted academic and behavioral help based on individual student needs, and was still scaling that approach district-wide as of the 2024-25 school year.

No data was available on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or the share of students receiving special education or English learner services. A parent may want to ask the school directly about those topics, as they can be meaningful for understanding the daily environment a child will experience. Jefferson Elementary does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and there is no Title I status listed in the available data, though the share of students receiving free or reduced-price meals is substantial.

For a family considering this school, the primary considerations are the demographic composition and the academic attainment levels. The school sits in a district that voters recently supported with a replacement operating levy and a separate capital levy for facility improvements, including roof replacements and HVAC upgrades, suggesting community investment in the district's infrastructure. Jefferson Elementary itself is one of several elementary options in Mount Vernon, and a family may want to compare its testing profile and program offerings against other schools in the district. The school's diversity and the district's stated focus on culturally responsive curriculum and tiered student support may appeal to families who value those approaches, while the proficiency results point to a need for additional academic support for many students.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 29% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 22% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 32% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 28% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 39% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 37% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolMount Vernon 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-income15%Higher-income25%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income56%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income70%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income19%Higher-income53%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income50%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income55%35 pp gap