Orcas Island Middle School, Eastsound WA

Original Research by School Decision on Orcas Island Middle School

Orcas Island Middle School serves grades six through eight as the island's only public middle school, part of the Orcas Island School District. It is a regular public school in Eastsound, the commercial hub and largest population center on Orcas Island. Eastsound itself is a compact, walkable village with a village green, shops, restaurants, a grocery store, and a public dock, where the school is integrated into the center rather than isolated on a campus. The economy is tourism-driven, and the community is known for its arts and music scene. The Washington State Ferry terminal is a distance south at Orcas Landing, and the Orcas Island Airport is half a mile north of the village. Moran State Park, a major recreational asset, is near the community.

Enrollment is small for a middle school. The student body is majority white, with a significant Hispanic population, and smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

On state assessments, performance varies by subject and grade. In English language arts, eighth graders showed a strong proficiency rate, seventh graders performed at an even higher level, and sixth graders were at a more modest level. In math, seventh graders recorded the highest proficiency rate, followed by eighth graders, with sixth graders below them. On the eighth-grade science assessment, more than half of students met the proficiency standard. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint relative to other school districts in San Juan County, a small county with few districts. The school has only a single year of assessment data in the available record, so there is no trend to evaluate.

Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the record. No information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or course access was provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those areas.

The Orcas Island School District did not have any recent parent-relevant changes surfaced by public record searches.

Given the school's small size and island setting, families considering it are often already living on Orcas Island, where housing values are well above state and national benchmarks. For a family moving to the island, the middle school offers a modest academic picture: strength in seventh-grade English and math, mixed results in other grades and subjects, and a small peer environment that may allow for closer relationships between students and staff. A parent looking for a wide array of course options or a deeply varied program catalog will find no such offerings in the available data, and should follow up with the school to understand what is actually provided in these middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 65% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 51% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 78% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 68% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median

Science

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 58% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median

This schoolOrcas Island 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 5Lower-income46%Higher-income56%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income63%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income53%Higher-income76%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income67%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income44%Higher-income52%9 pp gap