Is Happy Valley Elementary School a good school?

Happy Valley Elementary School ranks 530 th of 1168 Washington elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Happy Valley Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 468 students attended Happy Valley Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Happy Valley Elementary School?

Students at Happy Valley Elementary School are 68% White, 16% Hispanic, 10% Two or more races, 3% Asian, 1% African American.

What schools do graduates of Happy Valley Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Happy Valley Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Fairhaven Middle School High : Sehome High School

Happy Valley Elementary School

Summary:

Happy Valley Elementary School is a public elementary school in Bellingham, Washington, serving 456 students in grades PK-5. The school is part of the Bellingham School District, which is ranked 86 out of 247 districts in the state and has a 3-star rating.

Happy Valley stands out for its consistently strong academic performance, with proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Math that exceed the district and state averages across all grade levels. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school's ELA proficiency rate was 50.98%, compared to 56.23% for the district and 52.63% for the state. In Math, Happy Valley's proficiency rate was 52.22%, significantly higher than the district's 44.64% and the state's 41.68%. The school also performs well in Science, with scores above the district and state averages. However, the school's racial diversity is lower than nearby schools like Roosevelt Elementary and Birchwood Elementary, with a higher percentage of White students and a lower percentage of Hispanic students.

While Happy Valley's overall academic performance is strong, the school's ranking for certain student subgroups, such as Hispanic students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, is in the bottom half of the state. This suggests the need to address achievement gaps and provide targeted support for these populations. Additionally, the school's per-student spending has fluctuated significantly over the years, ranging from $8,313 in 2019-2020 to $17,236 in 2020-2021, which could impact the consistency of the educational experience.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

1041 24th St
Bellingham, WA 98225-8603

(360) 676-6420

District: Bellingham School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
530^th of 1,168 Washington Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $16,568

Students who attend Happy Valley Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Fairhaven Middle School
High:	Sehome High School

Student/teacher ratio: 17.6

Number of students: 468

Racial breakdown:

White:

67.9%

Hispanic:

16.2%

Two or more races:

9.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 44.2%

See top rated Washington elementary schools

Compare Happy Valley Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Happy Valley Elementary School ranks better than 54.6% of elementary schools in Washington. It also ranks 8^th among 14 ranked elementary schools in the Bellingham School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 52.3. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Happy Valley Elementary School has the largest elementary school student body size in the Bellingham School District. Racial makeup is: White (67.9%), Hispanic (16.2%), two or more races (9.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 44.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Happy Valley Elementary School is 17.6. 11 elementary schools in the Bellingham School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Happy Valley Elementary School employs 26.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Happy Valley Elementary School is $16,568, which is the lowest among 14 elementary schools in the Bellingham School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Happy Valley Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Happy Valley Elementary School 530^th of 1168 Washington public elementary schools. (See Happy Valley Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Bellingham School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Bellingham School District 86^th of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Happy Valley Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	92.91	34^th	1026	96.7%
2005	86.90	102^nd	1031	90.1%
2006	91.61	39^th	1051	96.3%
2007	81.46	137^th	1069	87.2%
2008	89.81	58^th	1067	94.6%
2009	86.53	86^th	1072	92.0%
2010	87.54	88^th	1088	91.9%
2011	86.14	105^th	1092	90.4%
2012	85.53	98^th	1097	91.1%
2013	87.12	80^th	1106	92.8%
2015	90.74	72^nd	1067	93.3%
2016	78.55	207^th	1053	80.3%
2017	75.09	252^nd	1056	76.1%
2018	63.62	384^th	1054	63.6%
2019	57.63	481^st	1130	57.4%
2021	71.18	295^th	1107	73.4%
2022	53.83	501^st	1169	57.1%
2023	54.56	494^th	1169	57.7%
2024	52.30	530^th	1168	54.6%

See the entire list of Washington Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	27.08	155^th	194	20.1%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	75.32	97^th	637	84.8%
2022	41.43	251^st	478	47.5%
2023	65.57	77^th	308	75.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	37.34	563^rd	835	32.6%
2019	29.47	762^nd	979	22.2%
2021	37.79	534^th	854	37.5%
2022	19.66	906^th	1019	11.1%
2023	30.33	764^th	1013	24.6%
2024	38.96	655^th	1024	36.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	61.53	392^nd	1004	61.0%
2019	57.92	460^th	1068	56.9%
2021	62.72	340^th	1008	66.3%
2022	52.13	495^th	1100	55.0%
2023	61.17	399^th	1094	63.5%
2024	53.78	480^th	1093	56.1%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	64.69	344^th	999	65.6%
2019	57.67	451^st	1075	58.0%
2021	75.46	236^th	1025	77.0%
2022	54.74	463^rd	1113	58.4%
2023	46.60	549^th	1099	50.0%
2024	50.68	524^th	1099	52.3%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	19.38	490^th	540	9.3%
2022	29.63	515^th	694	25.8%
2024	44.13	373^rd	651	42.7%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Happy Valley Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	61.94	319^th	833	61.7%
2019	57.54	441^st	1027	57.1%
2021	61.13	339^th	943	64.1%
2022	52.04	483^rd	1031	53.2%
2023	49.73	499^th	1011	50.6%
2024	47.01	536^th	1009	46.9%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Enrollment information for Happy Valley Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	468	8	8	15	7	n/a	n/a	0	506
1989	465	5	7	4	2	n/a	n/a	0	483
1990	446	3	15	10	4	n/a	n/a	0	478
1991	466	6	19	8	4	n/a	n/a	0	503
1992	450	4	21	9	6	n/a	n/a	0	490
1993	446	7	27	14	6	n/a	n/a	0	500
1994	462	9	26	11	7	n/a	n/a	0	515
1995	407	5	26	8	7	n/a	n/a	0	453
1996	407	5	26	8	7	n/a	n/a	0	453
1997	383	11	24	12	10	n/a	n/a	0	440
1998	384	9	26	10	8	n/a	n/a	0	437
1999	388	14	23	27	12	n/a	n/a	0	464
2000	374	8	31	23	16	n/a	n/a	0	452
2001	330	8	25	21	14	n/a	n/a	0	398
2002	334	3	35	23	9	n/a	n/a	0	404
2003	334	3	35	23	9	n/a	n/a	0	404
2004	360	5	31	21	7	n/a	n/a	0	424
2005	400	10	36	19	9	n/a	n/a	3	477
2006	416	10	27	12	8	n/a	n/a	14	487
2007	415	12	28	12	7	n/a	n/a	24	498
2008	396	11	28	15	3	n/a	n/a	38	491
2009	346	6	29	28	5	n/a	n/a	41	455
2010	407	10	37	40	11	n/a	n/a	0	505
2011	266	7	29	31	3	1	0	0	337
2012	263	5	24	35	3	1	0	0	331
2013	226	5	19	37	1	2	23	0	313
2014	245	5	24	40	3	1	24	0	342
2015	315	4	22	42	1	1	27	0	412
2016	305	8	20	58	3	2	33	0	429
2017	315	4	14	58	3	2	34	0	430
2018	317	7	23	48	4	2	38	0	439
2019	306	5	19	54	6	1	40	0	431
2020	317	3	21	62	1	1	49	0	454
2021	270	3	15	49	4	1	46	0	388
2022	321	3	12	60	4	1	45	0	446
2023	305	3	16	75	3	3	51	0	456
2024	318	6	16	76	3	3	46	0	468

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Happy Valley Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	506	22.0	23.0	0
1989	483	21.0	23.0	n/a
1990	478	21.8	21.9	0
1991	503	22.3	22.5	n/a
1992	490	22.3	21.9	n/a
1993	500	22.0	22.7	n/a
1994	515	24.1	21.4	n/a
1995	453	19.9	22.8	n/a
1996	453	19.9	22.8	n/a
1997	440	20.1	21.9	n/a
1998	437	19.2	22.8	n/a
1999	464	19.2	24.2	n/a
2000	452	20.2	22.4	n/a
2001	398	19.7	20.2	n/a
2002	404	18.5	21.8	19.1
2003	404	18.5	21.8	19.1
2004	424	18.0	23.6	20
2005	477	18.5	25.8	19.4
2006	487	22.5	21.6	18.6
2007	498	21.5	23.2	17.7
2008	491	21.5	22.8	17.9
2009	455	21.5	21.2	28
2010	505	22.0	22.9	23.4
2011	337	15.5	21.7	21.1
2012	331	14.6	22.5	32
2013	313	15.1	20.7	30
2014	342	n/a	n/a	26
2015	412	26.0	15.8	28.6
2016	429	23.0	18.6	30.1
2017	430	23.5	18.2	30.9
2018	439	23.9	18.3	27.3
2019	431	22.5	19.1	26.7
2020	454	24.0	18.8	30.6
2021	388	23.2	16.6	25.8
2022	446	24.2	18.4	26.9
2023	456	26.8	17.0	37.7
2024	468	26.5	17.6	44.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Happy Valley Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	506	22.0	23.0	0
1989	483	21.0	23.0	n/a
1990	478	21.8	21.9	0
1991	503	22.3	22.5	n/a
1992	490	22.3	21.9	n/a
1993	500	22.0	22.7	n/a
1994	515	24.1	21.4	n/a
1995	453	19.9	22.8	n/a
1996	453	19.9	22.8	n/a
1997	440	20.1	21.9	n/a
1998	437	19.2	22.8	n/a
1999	464	19.2	24.2	n/a
2000	452	20.2	22.4	n/a
2001	398	19.7	20.2	n/a
2002	404	18.5	21.8	19.1
2003	404	18.5	21.8	19.1
2004	424	18.0	23.6	20
2005	477	18.5	25.8	19.4
2006	487	22.5	21.6	18.6
2007	498	21.5	23.2	17.7
2008	491	21.5	22.8	17.9
2009	455	21.5	21.2	28
2010	505	22.0	22.9	23.4
2011	337	15.5	21.7	21.1
2012	331	14.6	22.5	32
2013	313	15.1	20.7	30
2014	342	n/a	n/a	26
2015	412	26.0	15.8	28.6
2016	429	23.0	18.6	30.1
2017	430	23.5	18.2	30.9
2018	439	23.9	18.3	27.3
2019	431	22.5	19.1	26.7
2020	454	24.0	18.8	30.6
2021	388	23.2	16.6	25.8
2022	446	24.2	18.4	26.9
2023	456	26.8	17.0	37.7
2024	468	26.5	17.6	44.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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