Hazel Dell Elementary School, Vancouver WA

Original Research by School Decision on Hazel Dell Elementary School

Hazel Dell Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Vancouver, Washington, as part of the Vancouver School District. It is a regular public school located in the Hazel Dell area, an unincorporated community north of the city limits that is part of the greater Vancouver urban footprint. The school's enrollment is modest for an elementary building, and its student body is diverse: a plurality of students are white, a substantial share are Hispanic, and smaller groups include students who are Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, and those identifying as two or more races. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with significant economic need.

State testing data from the most recent school year provides a picture of academic performance that families will want to weigh carefully. In English language arts, a minority of students across grades three through five scored at the proficient level. Math proficiency was lower still, with a smaller share meeting the standard. In fifth-grade science, about two in five students reached proficiency. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages these results across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile when measured against all districts in Clark County. The comparison set is districts, not individual schools, so the context is a county-wide district-level benchmark; even with that wider lens, the results stand out as soft. Because only one year of data is available, there is no trend to point to—just a single snapshot. A parent may want to ask the school what improvement strategies are in place and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting benchmarks.

The broader Vancouver community is growing rapidly. The city has seen significant annexations and development, including high-density mixed-use projects along the Vancouver Waterfront and in the downtown core. Many residents commute across the Columbia River to Portland, contributing to traffic on the two Interstate bridges. The Hazel Dell area itself is mostly auto-dependent, with suburban street patterns and commercial corridors. Walkable pockets exist in historic downtown Vancouver, but the neighborhood around the school is typical of suburban Clark County. Home values in the school’s zip code are moderate compared to the rest of Washington but above the national median; rents are also moderate relative to local incomes. The local unemployment rate is low, and median household income is near the national figure.

No recent parent-relevant changes to the Vancouver School District were found in public reporting, so the district appears to be operating without major upheaval. The school itself, as a K-5 regular public school, does not have a graduation rate or program offerings like advanced coursework; those measures do not apply here. Parents considering Hazel Dell Elementary will find a school with a high-poverty student population and test results that are below the county district median. The surrounding area is growing, suburban in character, and offers a range of housing at prices that are attainable relative to the Portland region.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 41% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 37% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 37% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 41% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 42% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolVancouver 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-income50%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income26%Higher-income60%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income38%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income20%Higher-income45%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income50%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income31%1 pp gap