Lake Forest Park Elementary, Lake Forest Park WA

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Forest Park Elementary

Lake Forest Park Elementary serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Shoreline School District. It is a mid-sized elementary school for its grade band and draws its student body from the surrounding residential community of Lake Forest Park, a primarily car-dependent bedroom suburb northeast of Seattle. The city was developed as one of the area’s first planned communities, with single-family homes on medium to large lots, winding roads, and a heavily wooded feel. Civic and commercial life is unusually concentrated at the Lake Forest Park Town Center, a single complex that houses city hall, a library, a community center, a bookstore, and about forty small businesses. The Burke-Gilman Trail runs along the nearby lake shoreline, providing a popular recreational corridor for walking and biking.

The student body is racially and economically diverse. A moderate share of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The largest group of students is White, with substantial representation from multiracial, Hispanic, and Asian backgrounds, and a smaller Black population. Data on the share of students who are English learners or receive special education services was not reported in the available records, a gap a family may wish to explore directly with the school.

Academically, the school’s overall proficiency rate across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint among districts in King County, when compared to the county’s school districts. Within the school itself, results vary by grade and subject. In math, proficiency rates range from roughly half to two-thirds of students depending on the grade level. In English language arts, the pattern is similar, with most grades showing proficiency at or above the halfway mark. In science, tested only in fifth grade, proficiency reaches around three-fifths of students. Because this is a single year of data from the 2024-25 state assessments, there is no prior year to compare for trends. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate, and information on chronic absenteeism is not available.

The housing market in the area is high-cost, reflecting the broader King County region. The national benchmark for home values is lower, and the affordability gap is wide. Rents are also elevated. Many families who work in Seattle commute via State Route 522. The school’s attendance area is zoned for middle and high schools elsewhere in the Shoreline district.

The Shoreline School District, which operates this elementary school, has recently secured voter-approved replacement levies that sustain funding for operations, special education, transportation, multilingual services, athletics, and technology upgrades. The district also completed major rebuilds of Kellogg Middle School and Parkwood Elementary in recent years, investments that signal ongoing facility renewal. Families considering Lake Forest Park Elementary will want to understand how the feeder pattern connects to the district’s middle and high schools and how the school’s academic profile aligns with their expectations for their child’s early education.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 71% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 64% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 61% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 67% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 63% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 72% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 71% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolShoreline 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-income21%Higher-income65%44 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income78%50 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income72%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income57%Higher-income95%38 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income80%52 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income65%43 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income61%Higher-income89%29 pp gap