Do you live in or near Vancouver, Washington, and want to know some of the schools you might want to avoid? Today, we're going to take a deeper look at four of the worst schools in Vancouver, including one school from each category: college, high school, middle school, and elementary school. For each category, there are different ways to measure a school's success. These schools are considered the worst because of their overall ranking, test scores, graduation rates, and more. Here are the four worst schools in Vancouver and why.
Clark College
Clark College, located in Vancouver, is a mid-size college that is considered the worst in the area due to its low graduation rate compared to other colleges, with a 42% graduation rate. Founded in 1933, Clark College is a public community college that offers two-year degrees and certificates. There are a wide variety of academic programs, but they emphasize health sciences, business administration, STEM programs, and early childhood education.
This college has an open admission policy, which means anyone with a GED or high school degree will be enrolled. They typically have around 3,500 students each year enrolled full-time and 3,200 in part-time schedules. For in-state students, annual tuition is approximately $2,000, and out-of-state tuition is $9,800.
Besides graduation rates, another important way you can tell the success of a college is by the average student salary after 10 years. The average student salary for Clark College students is approximately $38,700. Most of these students went on to work in liberal arts and humanities, health professions, precision production trades, business, and culinary services.
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Fort Vancouver High School
Fort Vancouver High School is considered one of Vancouver's worst high schools due to its ranking. On GreatSchools.org, it received a two out of ten, and on Niche.com it was given an overall grade of C+. This grade is an average of their ratings in categories like academics, teachers, clubs and activities, sports, facilities, diversity, college preparation, administration, and food. Fort Vancouver received Cs and Bs in all these categories except for diversity, where they received an A.
Serving 1,568 students, this school has a student-to-teacher ratio of 20:1. They have a 41% reading proficiency rate and a 15% math proficiency rate. 78% of their students go on to graduate high school, and the state average is 82%. The state SAT average score is 1067, and Fort Vancouver's average score is 890. However, they excel past the state average when it comes to AP course participation. Fort Vancouver has 26% of their students participate in AP, whereas the state average is 20%.
Clark College is actually one of the top choices for Fort Vancouver graduates. Sadly, only 33% of students returned to college for a second year; the state average for this is 84%. Approximately 26% of students end up needing remediation in a two-year college.
Cascade Middle School
Cascade Middle School is considered to be one of the worst middle schools in the area. On GreatSchools.org it is rated one out of ten, and on Niche.com it received an overall grade of C. Although there is some missing data in the categories used to grade schools through Niche.com, it did receive a C in academics and a C- in teachers.
Serving approximately 877 students, they have a student-to-teacher ratio of 17:1. Cascade has a 31% math proficiency and 37% reading proficiency. Test scores are also low for English and Science. Around 30% of students test sufficiently in English, whereas the state average is 53%. 34% of students test sufficient in Science, whereas the state average is 49%.
Cascade also has a higher average for suspension rates. Approximately 9% of all students are suspended. The state average is 4%. Then, approximately 19% of students with disabilities are suspended. The state average for this category is 10%. In both of these categories, the school averages are about double the state average. Students with disabilities are also scoring significantly less than the state average. Only eight percent of students with disabilities are proficient in English when the state average is 20%. Only four percent of students with disabilities are proficient in math, while the state average is 15%.
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Orchards Elementary School
Orchards Elementary School is considered one of the worst schools in Vancouver. It was rated a one out of 10 on GreatSchools.org and received an overall grade of C on Niche.com. This school also has missing data in certain categories but was graded a C in both the academics and teacher categories.
Serving 450 students, this school has a student-to-teacher ratio of 13:1. Their test scores are well below the state average in English, Math, and Science. The state average for English is 53%, and Orchards is at 29%. For Math, the state average is 40%, and Orchards is at 12%. The state average for Science is 49%, and Orchards scores at 22%.
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