Lyman Elementary School, Lyman WA

Original Research by School Decision on Lyman Elementary School

Lyman Elementary is a small public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in the town of Lyman, Washington, part of the Sedro-Woolley School District in Skagit County. The school sits on the north bank of the Skagit River in a very small, primarily residential town that has seen a modest population decline in recent years. Most families in the area live in older single-family homes on a compact land area, and residents often commute to nearby Sedro-Woolley, Burlington, or Mount Vernon for work. The town’s history as a gold-rush gathering place is long past, and today Lyman has no major employers or commercial street life of its own.

The student body is small and racially homogeneous, with most children identifying as white and a modest share identifying as Hispanic or of two or more races. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a substantial portion of families face economic pressures. No data was available on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Lyman Elementary’s proficiency results varied noticeably by subject and grade. In English language arts, the share of students meeting standards rose from a lower level in third grade to a majority in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Math proficiency was weaker overall, with fourth grade being the strongest and sixth grade the lowest among tested grades. Science, assessed only in fifth grade, showed a high rate of proficiency. No prior-year data was available for comparison, so it is not possible to gauge improvement or decline over time. Despite the uneven picture, when the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared with other districts in Skagit County, it lands above the midpoint of that group. That relative standing suggests that Lyman Elementary holds a solid position among its county peers, even with the clear soft spot in math.

Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school has no high school programs, advanced coursework, or career pathways, which is typical for an elementary school. No information was provided on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be described here.

The Sedro-Woolley School District, which operates Lyman Elementary, has made several recent changes that affect elementary-aged students. In the 2023-24 school year, the district adopted a new K-6 literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading, so every elementary classroom has shifted how reading is taught. Voters approved a capital bond in 2022 that funds construction of a new elementary school elsewhere in the district, along with security upgrades and athletic facility improvements. A replacement educational programs and operations levy passed in 2024, continuing funding for special education, transportation, and extracurricular activities through a property-tax obligation for residents.

For a family considering Lyman Elementary, the takeaway is a small, rural school with a stable but modestly challenged community. Academically, reading appears to be a relative strength in the upper elementary grades, while math performance, especially by sixth grade, gives a parent reason to ask what supports are available. The school’s proficiency index sits above the midpoint of Skagit County districts, but that aggregate masks the spread between subjects. The district’s new literacy curriculum and upcoming facility investments signal a commitment to improving elementary instruction, though the new school opening in the near term is not planned for Lyman itself. Families who value a very small setting and a close-knit town may find this a good fit, provided they are comfortable with the town’s limited services and rural isolation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 42% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 40% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 36% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 38% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

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

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 42% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 51% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 48% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 16 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 6Lower-income50%Higher-income64%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income55%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income60%13 pp gap