Bellingham School District Explained

Bellingham Public Schools
Address:	1306 Dupont Street
Zipcode:	98225
Country:	U.S.
Motto:	A Collective Commitment
Grades:	K–12, with preschool and pre-K offered for certain students.^[1]
Superintendent:	Greg Baker
Deputy Superintendent:	Mike Copland
Accreditation:	-->
Students:	11,623 (2022–2023)
Ratio:	13.2 (2021–2022)

Bellingham School District No. 501 (branded as Bellingham Public Schools) is a public school district in Whatcom County, Washington, United States that serves the city of Bellingham. As of, the district has an enrollment of 11,623 students.^[2]

In 2006, the Center for Digital Education, along with the National School Boards Association, named the Bellingham School District 6th in the nation for districts with 2501-15000 students.^{[3] [4]} They were also awarded an "excellence in equity" award in 2019, from the Washington State School Directors' Association,^[5] and a green ribbon for sustainability from the U.S. Department of Education in 2022.^[6]

The strategic plan of Bellingham Public Schools is known as "The Bellingham Promise".^[7]

Schools

High schools

Grades 9–12

• Bellingham High School (BHS)
  • Bellingham's attendance area is a strip, with Squalicum's area to the north and Sehome's to the south.^[8]
• Options High School (OHS)
  • Options High School is directly adjacent to Bellingham High, and does not have its own attendance area. It provides an alternative education experience.^[9] It has lower class sizes for more accessible learning.^[10]
• Sehome High School (SHS)
  • The southernmost of the district's high schools.
• Squalicum High School (SqHS)
  • The northernmost of the district's high schools.

Middle schools

Grades 6–8

• Fairhaven Middle School
  • This school was originally Fairhaven High School, but it burned down New Year's Eve of 1935, reopening as a junior high in 1937 and a middle school in 1967.^[11]
• Kulshan Middle School
• Shuksan Middle School
• Whatcom Middle School
  • The school was originally build in 1903,^[12] and named North Side High School, later named Whatcom High School, all before becoming a middle school.^[13] Whatcom Middle School burned down on November 5, 2009, and classes were originally closed until the 12th, but due to rebuilding, the school was eventually reopened in 2011.^[14]

Elementary schools

Grades K–5

• Alderwood Elementary School
• Birchwood Elementary School
• Carl Cozier Elementary School
• Columbia Elementary School
• Cordata Elementary School
• Geneva Elementary School
• Happy Valley Elementary School
  • The entirety of Happy Valley's attendance area feeds into Fairhaven Middle School.
• Lowell Elementary School
  • The entirety of Lowell's attendance area feeds into Fairhaven Middle School.
• Northern Heights Elementary School
• Parkview Elementary School
• Roosevelt Elementary School
• Silver Beach Elementary School
• Sunnyland Elementary School
• Wade King Elementary School
  • The majority of the school's attendance area feeds into Fairhaven, with some feeding into Kulshan.

Other programs

• Family Partnership Program

External links

• • Bellingham Public Schools Foundation

Notes and References

1. Web site: Early Childhood Education . . 2023-11-12.
2. Web site: Bellingham School District . 2023-11-12 . Washington State Report Card . OSPI.
3. Web site: Digital School Boards Survey . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061130053249/http://www.centerdigitaled.com/surveys.php?survey=school_boards . 2006-11-30 . 2023-11-12 . Center for Digital Education.
4. Bellingham School Board Honored as Tech-Savvy . . Rowe . Tanya Kerstiens . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927040708/http://www.bsd501.org/go/doc/420/138321/ . 2023-11-12 . 2007-09-27.
5. Web site: Teehan . Joe . November 25, 2019 . Bellingham Schools Board of Directors honored . 2023-11-13 . . en-US.
6. Web site: Hoffman . Hailey . April 23, 2022 . Bellingham Public Schools awarded Green Ribbon for sustainability . 2023-11-13 . . en.
7. Web site: The Bellingham Promise . 2023-11-13 . . en-US.
8. Web site: Attendance Areas . 2023-11-13 . . en-US.
9. Web site: Options High School . AIA Seattle.
10. News: Mittan . Kyle . June 6, 2016 . What to know as new Options High School gets built in Bellingham . . 2023-11-12.
11. News: Gallagher . Mary Lane . March 15, 2012 . November 10, 2007 . Milestones: Bellingham students still walk historic hallways . . 2023-11-12.
12. Web site: 2009-11-05 . Historic Bellingham middle school destroyed by fire . 2023-11-13 . . en-US.
13. News: Whatcom Middle School history . . 2023-11-12.
14. News: Cox . Kira M. . August 30, 2011 . February 9, 2011 . Whatcom Middle School to reopen in fall 2011, one year early . . 2023-11-12.