The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in Science. The lowest is 41% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Utsalady Elementary
Utsalady Elementary, a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, sits on the residential island of Camano in Puget Sound. The island is unincorporated, car-dependent, and without a traditional downtown; scattered beach neighborhoods like Utsalady, after which the school is named, are connected by rural roads. Civic life centers on Terry’s Corner, where a permanent library branch opened in a former restaurant, and on two state parks and Island County parks that anchor the outdoors. The year-round population is complemented by a large seasonal presence of part-time residents and vacation homeowners. The school belongs to the Stanwood-Camano School District, which means older students travel from the island to the mainland town of Stanwood for middle and high school. Utsalady opened in the 2000s as one of two elementary schools on the island.
Academically, state test results from a single recent year are available, and they offer a mixed picture. Third graders reached proficiency in English language arts at a rate that was above half, while fourth graders and fifth graders were somewhat lower, each sitting below the same mark. In math, proficiency rates in third grade neared the half mark, while fourth and fifth graders were below it. Science is tested only in fifth grade, where just over half of students met proficiency. Because the data covers only one year, no trend can be observed, and a parent may wish to ask the school how it monitors progress over time. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among the four school districts in Island County. The differences among the county’s districts are narrow, but Utsalady sits at the lower end of that band.
The student body is predominantly white, with shares of Hispanic students, students who identify as two or more races, Asian students, and smaller representations of Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. About one in three students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners is not reported in the available records, so a parent should check with the school directly on special education services and language support offerings.
The school grounds appear to be a straightforward neighborhood elementary for the island’s families. The setting is small for its grade band, and the community context matters here. Camano Island has a higher than typical share of retirees, a significant number of part-time residents, and housing values that are above the state median, making this an expensive area to enter. At the same time, the island has seen infrastructure investments including a new county administration building and a second high-voltage transmission line for growing demand. The school is among the newer buildings on the island, opened in the 2000s.
No information on class sizes, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or chronic absenteeism is present in the data. A parent wanting to know about those dimensions would need to contact the school or attend a school board meeting. The district brief turned up no recent referendum, curriculum change, or property tax shift of note, so the district appears to be operating without a major disruption that would affect a family’s day-to-day experience.
For a family considering Utsalady, the core questions are about academic fit. The school is in a desirable but costly island setting with a large retiree and seasonal population, so the peer group for a child may differ from a mainland suburban school. The test results are moderate and a parent may want to understand how the school addresses the subjects where proficiency rates are lower, especially in upper-elementary math. The one-year snapshot means there is no trend to evaluate, and a conversation with the principal about instructional approaches and support for students not yet at standard would be a reasonable next step.
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