The Best Schools in Vancouver, Washington
When we knew we were moving to Vancouver I was instantly excited-going from New Mexico (which typically ranks 49th or 50th in the US for education) to Washington (which typically rates around #10) was going to be a BIG improvement to my kids’ schooling. But then I started researching different areas and different school districts and ratings of schools in those districts and quickly got confused. For example, how does a NM rating of 9 compare to a WA rating of 9 since Washington ranks so much higher nationally? I never found a good answer to that question, but I will share what I found out from all the sources I consulted. Just remember, rankings and score results aren’t everything!
Public Schools
I had a friend recommend to look primarily at the High School that my kids would end up at since that will ultimately make the biggest difference in their schooling, and I thought that was a great idea. So I mostly looked into High Schools in different school districts.
When it comes to districts, I had multiple people tell me to avoid Battleground School District because of budget cuts, and that Vancouver School District is much much better than Evergreen School District. Having said that though, there are definitely good schools in each district, and there is even conflicting evidence in this article. There still seems to be a consensus between a realtor I talked to, Vancouver Facebook mom group comments, and co-workers at my husband’s work that Vancouver School District, Camas School District, Ridgefield School District, and Hockinson School District are all safe bets. Vancouver School District even has more magnet school options like a dual-language elementary, an arts and technology elementary, as well as a couple magnet high schools listed below. I found this site that ranks different school districts and schools that can help you make an informed decision.
*As a side note-we moved to the Orchards area of Vancouver, and have Vancouver in our address. I thought I had done my part to avoid Battleground School District, but upon further investigation discovered that we were still in Battleground School District. Ugh! So make sure you check those district boundaries to be certain.
High Schools that I consistently found had good ratings or were at the top of the list for best High Schools in the area:
-Skyview HS (Vancouver District)
-Columbia River HS (Vancouver District)
-Union HS (Camas District)
-iTech (Vancouver District Magnet school)
-Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (Vancouver District Magnet school)
-Hockinson High School (Hockinson District)
Here’s a resource I found that ranks different High Schools in the area.
Private Christian Schools
Another thing I found in my school search is that there were a good amount of Christian Schools in the area. I briefly looked into these, but as I found most of them were private I didn’t research too deeply since we don’t typically enroll in private school. I may be wrong and there may be some Christian schools that are Charter or magnet schools, but in my search I wasn’t able to find any Christian Charter schools that were close to me (if I remember right there was one in Portland and one further up north).
The three main schools that I see come up a lot are:
King’s Way (around $11k/year)
Cornerstone Christian Academy (around $9-11/year depending on grade, two different campuses)
Hosanna Christian School (around $8-9k/year)
Other sites I consulted regularly in my search:
-greatschools.org for individual school rankings rated on a scale of 1-10
-niche.com for individual and district school rankings rated on a letter grading system
-Washington State Report Card for more precise info like graduation rates, teacher/student ratio, educational standards met, and per-pupil expenditure.
-US News for lots of different rankings and resources (here for best ranked elementaries, here for middle schools) *this site will also rank schools by district AND by state which is really helpful.
More Good Schools/Schools to Avoid According to a Realtor
Another resource in our search for a good school was Karen Dayley who is a realtor in the area with lots of info on good schools within each district. Here’s what she said:
Avoid: Cascade Jr High (Cascade District), Evergreen High School (Evergreen District)
Good Elementaries: Chinook Elementary (Vancouver), Dorothy Fox Elementary (Camas School District)
Good Middle School: Shahala Middle School (Evergreen District)
She’s super knowledgeable about schools in the area, so if you’re looking for that in a realtor make sure to contact her.
Well, I hope this was helpful! Choosing the right area to live can feel really hard sometimes, but just remember that there are good teachers everywhere, and what’s really important is that you as a parent is involved in your child’s education. That makes the biggest difference. Let me know if you have any questions-I will try to help in any way I can.