Grand Mound Elementary, Rochester WA

Original Research by School Decision on Grand Mound Elementary

Grand Mound Elementary serves third through fifth grade in the Rochester School District, a regular public school in a part of Thurston County that has seen substantial change. The community of Rochester has experienced explosive growth in the last two decades, with the census-designated place more than doubling in population and its land area expanding significantly. This is an area of active development, reflected in a high rate of owner-occupied housing and a median home value that puts it on the higher end for the region. A Subarea Plan Update from the county signals continued land-use planning for the future. The school itself sits in this growing corridor, drawing from a mix of established residential areas and newer construction.

The student body is diverse in background. A majority of students are white, with a substantial Hispanic share and smaller numbers of students who are American Indian or Alaska Native, two or more races, Asian, or Black. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a high share and places the school in a context where economic support is widespread. The school is regular in its type, not a charter or magnet, and enrollment across its three grades is balanced, with a small bump in fifth grade. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school about those services directly.

Academic results come from the 2024-25 state assessments and offer a mixed picture. In English language arts, fourth graders at the school met the proficiency benchmark at a rate that was well above the school's own grades; third and fifth grade rates were lower but still in a comparable range to one another. In math, proficiency rates declined as students moved up the grades, with third graders having the strongest showing and fifth graders the weakest. On the fifth-grade science assessment, the school's result sat close to where its math and English numbers for that grade had landed. When stacked against other districts in Thurston County, the school's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint. For a parent, this means that while some grade-subject combinations show solid performance, the school's overall academic standing is not at the top of the county, and a closer look at how the school supports students as they move through the intermediate grades may be useful.

The school is an intermediate-only building, covering the three years before middle school. This is a straightforward academic pathway with no high school graduation rate to report, and no data on course access, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism was present in the records. The Rochester district itself does not appear to have made major recent changes that would be immediately visible to a parent from public records, so the current offerings and structures are likely stable.

For a family considering this school, the key factors are the shifting community context, a student body with significant economic diversity, and academic results that are strongest in fourth grade English and show a downward slope in math across grades. A parent who values a school where a large share of families are in similar economic circumstances may find this a welcoming environment. A parent who is focused on schools with top-tier county test scores will want to weigh the school's relative position and ask about academic supports, particularly in math for older grades. The school is a single point in a growing district, and what it offers today may shift as the community continues to expand.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 49%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 39%

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

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

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

This schoolRochester 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-income33%Higher-income49%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income72%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income67%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income58%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income70%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income47%15 pp gap