Best Public Elementary Schools in the Tri-Cities
The Tri-Cities — Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco — host three sizable public school districts plus the smaller West Richland-area schools that fall under Richland SD. The metropolitan area's elementary scores cluster in a narrower band than most Washington metros: ten of the top elementaries fall between 59 and 67 percent proficient in math, with ELA running a few points higher in most cases. Unlike King County, no Tri-Cities elementary clears 70 percent in both subjects, and no single elementary stands clearly apart from the pack.
Orchard Elementary in Richland School District leads the list, with Amon Creek Elementary (Kennewick School District, despite its Richland location — a quirk of district boundary lines along Steptoe Street) and Ruth Livingston Elementary in Pasco SD close behind. Richland SD's strong showing — five of the top ten — reflects the district's positioning along the Hanford / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory professional corridor, where median household incomes and parent-education levels are among the highest in eastern Washington. Kennewick SD places three schools in the top ten (Amon Creek, Ridge View, Cottonwood, Sage Crest, Lincoln — five if you count those that finish below tenth), and Pasco SD places one (Ruth Livingston).
Desert Sky and William Wiley in West Richland reflect that community's continued residential growth — both schools serve neighborhoods that have expanded substantially since 2010 as Tri-Cities housing pressure pushes families further from the urban core. Lewis & Clark in Richland is one of the older elementaries in the metro and serves the central-Richland neighborhoods near the Columbia River.
The Pasco School District, which serves the largest enrollment in the metro and a majority-Hispanic student body with a substantial English-learner population, has only one elementary in the top ten despite running thirteen elementary schools. The score gap between the leading Pasco school (Ruth Livingston) and the leading Richland school (Orchard) is small in absolute terms — under five percentage points — but the district-wide proficiency gap between the three districts is meaningful and reflects both demographic differences and the structural challenges of educating large populations of newcomer students whose tested proficiency improves substantially with time-in-program but is captured at lower rates on Smarter Balanced in any single year.
The Pasco School District, which serves the largest enrollment in the metro and a majority-Hispanic student body with a substantial English-learner population, has only one elementary in the top ten despite running thirteen elementaries. Richland SD's stronger top-line outcomes track its smaller enrollment, higher household incomes (Hanford and PNNL families), and lower ELL caseload.
Ranked schools
- 001ORCHARD ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON68%
- 002AMON CREEK ELEMENTARYKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON68%
- 003RUTH LIVINGSTON ELEMENTARYPASCO SCHOOL DISTRICT · FRANKLIN67%
- 004RIDGE VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON66%
- 005COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARYKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON66%
- 006DESERT SKY ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON64%
- 007SAGE CREST ELEMENTARYKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON64%
- 008LEWIS & CLARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON63%
- 009WILLIAM WILEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON61%
- 010LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON61%
- 011WHITE BLUFFS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON59%
- 012BADGER MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON57%
- 013HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON52%
- 014MARCUS WHITMAN ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON51%
- 015JEFFERSON ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON49%
- 016VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON49%
- 017SOUTHGATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON46%
- 018TAPTEAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON45%
- 019JASON LEE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON44%
- 020ROSALIND FRANKLIN STEM ELEMENTARYPASCO SCHOOL DISTRICT · FRANKLIN43%
- 021SUNSET VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON42%
- 022CANYON VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON41%
- 023CASCADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON40%
- 024SACAJAWEA ELEMENTARYRICHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON39%
- 025WESTGATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLKENNEWICK SCHOOL DISTRICT · BENTON38%
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