Report card season has arrived for Skagit County’s school districts, and this time, four of them are sharing the same less-than-stellar grade.
Education review website Niche recently released its 2027 Best School Districts evaluations, and the results reveal an interesting divide among the county’s public school districts.
Of the five districts evaluated, just one received an overall grade in the A range. The remaining four? They all landed on a C+.
That means there isn’t a clear bottom three this year. Instead, four districts are tied for Skagit County’s lowest overall grade.
The findings come from Niche’s latest Skagit County school district evaluations, which consider academic performance, teacher quality, diversity, student and parent feedback, and other factors.
And while a C+ might not be the report card parents are dreaming about, the numbers reveal some interesting differences between districts that received identical overall marks.
Here’s how they stack up.
La Conner School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+
Small district, big contrasts.
Serving approximately 485 students, La Conner School District is the smallest of the four districts sharing Skagit County’s lowest overall Niche grade.
Its student-teacher ratio is 14:1, giving it the lowest ratio among the four districts.
According to Niche’s La Conner School District profile, approximately 37% of students demonstrate proficiency in reading, while 32% meet proficiency standards in math.
Academics received a C, but the district earned an impressive A for diversity and a B- for teachers.
Its college preparation and resources and facilities categories also received B- grades.
That makes La Conner an interesting case: Despite landing among the county’s lowest overall grades, it received one of the strongest diversity evaluations of the group.
Not everything on this report card belongs in the same column.
Burlington-Edison School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+
Burlington-Edison School District serves approximately 3,276 students in Burlington and surrounding communities, including Edison and Bay View.
Its overall C+ comes with some noticeably stronger marks in other areas.
According to Niche’s Burlington-Edison School District report card, 38% of students are proficient in reading, while 28% meet proficiency standards in math.
The district has a 16:1 student-teacher ratio and a reported graduation rate of 87%.
Academics and teacher quality both received C+ grades, while administration earned a C-.
But there’s a brighter side.
Burlington-Edison earned a B+ in college preparation, extracurricular activities, athletics, food, and resources and facilities.
Diversity received an A-.
In other words, the district’s overall C+ doesn’t necessarily reflect the stronger evaluations it received for several aspects of student life.
Sedro-Woolley School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+
Sedro-Woolley School District received the same C+ overall grade, but its academic numbers tell a somewhat different story.
Serving approximately 4,600 students, the district has a student-teacher ratio of 19:1, the highest among the four districts featured.
According to Niche’s Sedro-Woolley School District profile, 44% of students demonstrate reading proficiency, while 34% meet proficiency standards in math.
Both percentages are higher than those reported for Burlington-Edison, despite the districts receiving identical overall grades.
Sedro-Woolley’s graduation rate stands at 79%.
Its academics and administration categories received C grades, while teachers earned a B-.
But athletics proved to be a relative bright spot, receiving a B+.
The district also earned an A- for diversity and B- grades for college preparation and resources and facilities.
It’s a reminder that matching overall grades don’t necessarily mean matching academic results.
Mount Vernon School District — Overall Niche Grade: C+
Skagit County’s largest school district also finds itself among those receiving Niche’s lowest overall marks.
Mount Vernon School District serves approximately 6,326 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 17:1.
According to Niche’s Mount Vernon School District evaluation, approximately 36% of students demonstrate reading proficiency, while 26% meet proficiency standards in math.
The district’s reported graduation rate is 82%.
Mount Vernon’s academics received a C, while administration earned a C-.
However, several other categories performed considerably better.
The district received an A- for diversity, a B- for teachers and college preparation, and a B for resources and facilities.
Extracurricular activities and athletics also received B- grades.
So while the overall evaluation places Mount Vernon alongside three other Skagit County districts, its stronger grades in diversity and resources show that the picture isn’t entirely discouraging.
How Does Niche Grade School Districts?
A district’s overall Niche grade involves considerably more than standardized test scores.
According to Niche’s methodology for its 2027 Best School Districts evaluations, academics account for 50% of the overall assessment.
Teacher quality contributes another 15%, while diversity and student and parent satisfaction each account for 12.5%.
Resources and facilities make up 5%, while extracurricular activities and athletics account for the remaining 5%.
Those factors help explain why districts with different test scores and graduation rates can ultimately receive the same overall grade.
Niche also publishes numerical rankings for qualifying districts, but those rankings are separate from the overall letter grades examined here.
For this comparison, districts receiving identical overall grades are treated as tied rather than assigned arbitrary positions.
The academic proficiency figures included in Niche’s district profiles come from Washington’s 2024–25 statewide assessments. Families can explore additional academic information through the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s data portal.
What About the Rest of Skagit County?
Only one district received an overall grade higher than C+ in Niche’s latest county evaluations.
Anacortes School District earned an A-.
That puts it in a different letter-grade category from Burlington-Edison, La Conner, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, which all received C+ grades.
Still, there’s an important distinction between receiving one of the lowest grades in Skagit County and being among the lowest-performing districts statewide.
The county comparison involves just five districts, and Niche’s evaluations represent one organization’s assessment of school quality.
Individual schools within the same district can also perform quite differently.
For families considering where to enroll their children, the grades offer a useful starting point, but they’re hardly the final word.
After all, there’s a lot more to a good education than one letter on a report card.
