The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in English language arts. The lowest is 56% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lake Spokane Elementary
Lake Spokane Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Nine Mile Falls School District. The school is located on the western side of the unincorporated community of Nine Mile Falls, an exurb of Spokane that sits along the Spokane River. Crossing the river separates the school from the community’s post office and most of its commercial services on the eastern side, and the area’s rural character is defined by ponderosa pine forest and a steep river valley with no traditional downtown. The middle and high schools are in nearby Suncrest, so families with children across grade bands should expect a commute within the district.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, or two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that economic diversity is present. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs and English learner status was not available in the provided records.
On state assessments, third and fourth graders showed a solid performance in math, with the share meeting proficiency landing comfortably above the state reference point for those grades. Fifth-grade math results were weaker, with a noticeably smaller share reaching proficiency, a pattern that a parent may want to ask the school about in terms of curriculum or support as students approach middle school. In English language arts, proficiency rates across third through fifth grades clustered together at a level that is credible for a public elementary but leaves room for continued growth. Science results for fifth graders, the only grade tested in that subject, were not far from the same general range as the ELA numbers.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate. The chronic absenteeism rate was also not reported in the available data.
When compared to other school districts across Stevens County, Nine Mile Falls’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades placed in the top quartile of the county, a position that reflects stronger-than-typical results for the area. The comparison set is the county’s dozen districts, and the school’s index was higher than the median there.
The community context matters for families weighing this school. Nine Mile Falls is not a fast-growing subdivision corridor; it remains an unincorporated exurb where suburban development from Spokane approaches but has not yet merged with it. The local economy is anchored by the Avista Utilities hydroelectric plant at Nine Mile Dam and the school district itself. Housing in the area carries a value that sits close to the statewide Washington benchmark, with a national mortgage rate environment that would make monthly costs significant for many buyers. Renters also face a tight market, as estimated rents outpace what the typical household can comfortably spend by a wide margin. The broader economic picture includes a stable but elevated national unemployment rate and a median household income that, while above the national figure, does not erase the affordability pressure.
The district brief found no recent changes of lasting impact to report for parents. That stability means a family choosing Lake Spokane Elementary is signing on for a school that has not seen major restructuring or boundary shifts, for better or worse. The school itself is a regular public elementary with no charter or magnet designation, and it operates in a setting that is quiet, rural in feel, and removed from the density of Spokane proper. For a family that values a small-community elementary with academic results that stand up well inside its county and does not mind the spread-out geography and limited walkability of the exurban corridor, Lake Spokane Elementary fits that profile. A family prioritizing a highly walkable neighborhood, dense peer variety, or built-in after-hours civic life in a traditional downtown would find that this area does not offer those things, and the school reflects that reality in its setting.
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