Clear Lake Elementary School, Clear Lake WA

Original Research by School Decision on Clear Lake Elementary School

Clear Lake Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in the Sedro-Woolley School District, sitting in the unincorporated lakeside community of Clear Lake in Skagit County. The school is a regular public elementary school, not a charter or magnet. It operates in a campus setting in a low-density residential area along State Route 9, an auto-oriented stretch with limited commercial activity. Clear Lake itself is a modestly sized census-designated place with owner-occupied homes, a public park with a swimming beach, a fishing pier, and a museum housed in the former Odd Fellows Hall. The community has seen moderate population growth in recent years, and home values have appreciated in this lake-adjacent setting.

The school draws its enrollment from the immediate area and surrounding rural parts of the Sedro-Woolley district. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and very few students from other racial backgrounds. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, giving a sense of the economic mix in the community. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs.

State testing results from the most recent school year offer a mixed but generally solid picture. In mathematics, proficiency across grades three through six varies, with the highest rate in third grade and a noticeable drop by sixth grade. Reading and English language arts performance also varies by grade, with fifth graders showing the strongest results and sixth graders the weakest. Science, tested only in fifth grade, shows a majority of students meeting the standard. Taken together, the school’s combined proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places it well above the typical level among school districts in Skagit County, landing in the top quarter of that comparison set. This is a clear strength and suggests that Clear Lake Elementary delivers academic results that exceed most of its county peers, despite some grade-to-grade fluctuation.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism is not available. No information was provided on discipline rates, staffing ratios, or course access. The school does not appear to be a Title I school, though the free-or-reduced-price meal share suggests it serves a low-income population that often qualifies for that designation; this is something a family may wish to confirm.

The school is part of the Sedro-Woolley School District, which has undertaken several parent-relevant changes in recent years. Voters approved a capital bond that funds a new elementary school, expected to open soon, which should relieve overcrowding that has affected existing buildings including Clear Lake. The district also passed a replacement educational programs and operations levy that supports special education, transportation, athletics, and extracurriculars. Additionally, the district adopted a new K-6 literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading, implemented in the most recent school year. That curriculum shift could affect how reading is taught at Clear Lake, and parents may want to ask about its impact on their child’s classroom experience.

Clear Lake Elementary offers a standard elementary pathway within a district that is investing in facilities and curriculum. The school’s overall test performance stands out in the county, though families with a child entering sixth grade may want to pay attention to the lower proficiency rates at that level and follow up with the school about what supports are in place. The community is small and quiet, with limited commercial amenities, and housing has been appreciating in the area. For families who value strong comparative test results in a small, rural elementary setting, this school fits that profile.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 42% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 40% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 36% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 42% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 51% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 48% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 53% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 20 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 3Lower-income40%Higher-income58%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income62%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income65%Higher-income68%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income67%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income59%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income64%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income63%34 pp gap