Union Gap School, Union Gap WA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Union Gap School

Union Gap School is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the city of Union Gap, Washington. It is the sole school in the Union Gap School District, which operates independently from the adjacent city of Yakima. The school’s enrollment is on the smaller side for a PK-8 campus, and nearly all of its students come from households with low incomes.

Union Gap itself is a city with a mixed character. It is the retail hub of the Yakima Valley, anchored by the Valley Mall and its many merchants, and retains some agricultural heritage. The city’s built environment is auto-oriented, with commercial strips and highway-adjacent development rather than a walkable downtown core. Part of Union Gap lies within the Yakama Nation. The population has seen minimal recent change, reflecting a stable or slightly contracting community rather than one experiencing rapid growth. The local housing market is notably more affordable than the Washington state benchmark, with home values below the state median and rents that generally stay under a quarter of a typical household’s income.

Academically, the school’s proficiency results present a mixed but somewhat encouraging picture when looked at across grades and subjects. In English language arts, the share of students meeting state standards varied by grade, with a high mark in eighth grade and a notably lower one in third grade. Math proficiency showed a similar pattern, with fifth grade the strongest and sixth grade the lowest. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grades, were roughly in line with the school’s overall ELA and math averages. There is only one year of data available from the state assessment, so no trend over time can be established. When compared to other districts in Yakima County, Union Gap School’s overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile, meaning its combined performance across tested subjects and grades is stronger than most of its county peers.

No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or access to specific courses, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be assessed from this record. The school serves only up to eighth grade, so there is no graduation rate to report. Information about special education or English learner populations was also missing. A parent interested in those areas would need to follow up with the school directly.

The school’s student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with a smaller white population and very small numbers of students from other racial or ethnic groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The district brief turned up no recent major changes such as bond measures, boundary shifts, or curriculum overhauls, suggesting a period of administrative stability.

For a family considering Union Gap School, the picture is one of a small, community-rooted school that performs above the county average on state tests despite serving a population with high economic need. The city is an affordable, car-dependent place with a strong retail and agricultural identity but little new residential development. The school is a single campus for elementary and middle grades, so students move through the same building from kindergarten through eighth grade. Families seeking a high school will need to look elsewhere, as Union Gap School does not serve grades nine through twelve.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 51%

even with state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 28%

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

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 51%

even with state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43%

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

This schoolUnion Gap 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.