Woodland Middle School, Woodland WA

Original Research by School Decision on Woodland Middle School

Woodland Middle School sits in the small but growing city of Woodland, a community straddling Cowlitz and Clark Counties at the junction of Interstate 5 and a state highway, roughly twenty miles north of Vancouver. The city has a mix of residential neighborhoods and commercial areas along the I-5 corridor, with a traditional Old Town core near the Lewis River. It is described as a family-oriented place, with a notable share of households containing children. Horseshoe Lake Park and the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens are among the civic anchors, and the city has been actively planning for growth through a recent comprehensive plan update.

The school itself serves grades five through eight as a regular public school in the Woodland School District. The district recently opened a new middle school campus in 2023, replacing the old Park Street site and addressing enrollment growth that had been squeezing space at the elementary and high school levels. That facility investment, funded through a capital bond passed in 2022, means the current building is modern and designed for the enrollment it now holds.

State testing data from the 2024-25 school year, which is the only year available in this record, gives a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades five through eight are near or just above the halfway mark, with grade five the strongest. Math proficiency is softer, landing squarely in the fortieth percentile at each tested grade except for grade eight, which is lower still. Science results, tested only in grades five and eight, show a wide gap: grade five performs well, while grade eight trails. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint among districts in Cowlitz County, in the top quartile of the six districts measured. That is a relative strength within the local context.

The student body reflects the broader community. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The population is predominantly white, with a meaningful Latino presence and small shares of students identifying as two or more races, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in this record, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those support populations.

Housing in the Woodland zip code carries a moderate price tag relative to national benchmarks, and rents are a noticeable portion of area incomes, so affordability is a real consideration for families moving into the district. The city’s position along the I-5 corridor and its proximity to Vancouver and Portland have drawn growth, and the district has responded with new facilities. For a parent, this is a school that offers a reasonably strong academic starting point relative to its county peers, housed in a brand-new building, but with clear room for improvement in math and in maintaining student performance through the middle grades. The community is small, car-dependent, and family-oriented, with active civic traditions and outdoor recreation nearby.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 34%

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 49% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

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

This schoolWoodland 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 4Lower-income29%Higher-income67%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income71%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income66%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income69%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income71%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income16%Higher-income45%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income59%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income63%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income57%28 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income16%Higher-income51%35 pp gap