Toledo Elementary School, Toledo WA

Original Research by School Decision on Toledo Elementary School

Toledo Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the small, rural town of Toledo, Washington, a community on the Cowlitz River that calls itself the “Gateway to Mt. St. Helens.” The school is part of the Toledo School District, which built a new high school completed in 2022, a major capital project that reflects the community’s investment in its schools. The elementary school itself is a regular public school and draws its enrollment from a town that has seen modest population growth in recent years.

The student body is predominantly white, with a much smaller Hispanic population and even smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races, Asian, or American Indian or Alaska Native. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that places the school in a context where economic need is a meaningful factor for many families. The school is large enough to offer separate classrooms at each grade level within the primary and intermediate span, but small enough that the community feel of a rural town likely carries into the building.

State assessment results from the most recent testing year provide a mixed picture. In math, proficiency among third graders was above the midpoint nationally, but fourth-grade math proficiency was lower, and fifth-grade math proficiency was significantly lower, with about a quarter of students meeting the bar. In English language arts, fourth graders posted a proficiency rate that was the strongest of any grade in any subject, while third and fifth graders both had lower rates. Fifth-grade science results fell between the math and English language arts outcomes for that grade. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among the districts in Lewis County, meaning it performs in the upper half of its county peers, though the range among those peers is fairly tight.

Because the school only serves through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate, chronic absenteeism data, or high school course access data to consider. A parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and English learner services, as those counts were not available in the data. Similarly, discipline statistics and staffing ratios were not reported, so a family looking for details on school climate or class sizes would need to seek that information from the district.

The town of Toledo itself is a very small place with a compact downtown, a handful of parks, and annual community events such as Cheese Days and the Mt. St. Helens Bluegrass Festival. The built environment is rural and small-scale, with historic downtown buildings and public art added through a volunteer initiative. Housing values in the area are below the state average, which may make the community more accessible for families looking to buy. The school is located at 311 South 6th Street, within the town itself, so it is likely walkable or a short ride from most homes in Toledo.

Overall, Toledo Elementary serves as a neighborhood school in a small, tight-knit community. Its academic performance is in the upper half of its county’s districts, though some grade-level results, particularly in fifth-grade math and third- and fifth-grade English language arts, show room for improvement. Families considering this school should feel comfortable asking the district for more detail on student support resources and class sizes, as those pieces are not documented in the public data reviewed here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 49%

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

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

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

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 49%

even with state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 37%

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

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolToledo 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-income29%Higher-income44%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income54%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income49%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income61%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income60%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income31%13 pp gap