Big Lake Elementary School, Mount Vernon WA

Original Research by School Decision on Big Lake Elementary School

Big Lake Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in the Sedro-Woolley School District, located in a community near Mount Vernon in Skagit County. The school building sits on Lake View Boulevard, and the surrounding area is part of the broader Skagit River Valley, a region known for its agriculture and the annual Tulip Festival. Mount Vernon, the county seat, provides civic and commercial anchors including the newly opened Library Commons hub, Skagit Station transit center, and a historic downtown. The school itself draws from a residential area that has seen steady growth, with the district responding by passing a capital bond to construct a new elementary school intended to relieve overcrowding.

Big Lake is a small school. Its student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up about one in eight students, and smaller shares of students who are Native American, Asian, or of two or more races. Roughly a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate level of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source records.

State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year show a varied picture across grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency rates climb notably from third grade to sixth grade: the lowest share of students met the standard in third grade, while sixth graders posted the strongest performance by a wide margin. Math proficiency also varies, with the fifth-grade cohort showing the lowest rate and the sixth-grade cohort showing the highest. In science, tested in fifth grade, a substantial majority of students scored proficient. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint relative to districts in Skagit County. A parent considering the school may want to examine how individual grade levels perform, as the range from one year to the next is fairly wide, particularly in math.

The Sedro-Woolley district has made several recent changes that directly affect families. Voters approved a capital bond that funds a new elementary school, set to open in the near future, along with security upgrades and athletic improvements. A replacement educational programs and operations levy was also approved, continuing local property tax support for special education, transportation, athletics, and extracurriculars. The district has adopted a new literacy curriculum for kindergarten through sixth grade, aligned to the science of reading, which represents a district-wide shift in reading instruction.

Housing in the area reflects the broader Skagit County market. Home values and rents have risen in recent years, and the cost of buying a home is above the national median, though still below some parts of western Washington. The surrounding community offers a mix of rural and suburban character, with the civic and cultural life of Mount Vernon within a short drive. For a family looking at Big Lake, the school provides a small-scale elementary setting with notable variation in achievement from grade to grade, and the district is actively investing in facilities and curriculum.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 42% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 40% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 38% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 34% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 42% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 51% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 48% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 53% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolSedro-Woolley 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-income42%Higher-income66%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income58%Higher-income87%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income60%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income58%Higher-income61%3 pp gap