Olympia Regional Learning Academy landed the highest local ranking in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Elementary Schools list, placing No. 207 out of 1,169 ranked schools statewide.

The rankings, released Oct. 20, evaluate student performance in math and reading alongside demographic context, according to a U.S. News press release. The assessment data comes from the 2023-2024 school year.

ORLA is a K-12 public school in the Olympia School District with 345 students and a 13-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Seventy percent of its students scored at or above the proficient level in reading, and 48% reached that mark in math, according to the school's U.S. News profile. U.S. News rated the school's reading performance "well above expectations."

For families looking at traditional elementary schools, Boston Harbor Elementary earned the next-highest Olympia ranking at No. 290 statewide with an overall score of 75.26 out of 100. The small school on Zangle Road serves 178 students in pre-K through fifth grade. Sixty-seven percent of Boston Harbor students scored proficient or above in both math and reading, beating the Olympia School District averages of 50% in math and 56% in reading.

Centennial Elementary rounded out the top three Olympia-area schools at No. 322 statewide, with 71% reading proficiency and 65% math proficiency among its 434 students.

Tumwater's top school

In the Tumwater School District, Michael T. Simmons Elementary earned the highest ranking at No. 434 statewide with an overall score of 62.93 out of 100. The school serves 457 students in pre-K through fifth grade. Fifty-eight percent of students scored proficient or above in math, and 57% reached that level in reading. Both figures topped the state averages of 46% and 50%.

Peter G. Schmidt Elementary, also in Tumwater, ranked No. 581 with a score of 50.34 out of 100.

How the rankings work

U.S. News ranked about 46,000 public elementary schools nationwide. The methodology measures student performance in math and reading, accounts for student demographics and uses student-teacher ratios to break ties, according to the press release. Eric Brooks, U.S. News director of education data analysis, said in the release that the updated approach uses data collected from state education agencies by RTI International and the U.S. Department of Education.

Superintendent Patrick Murphy has led the Olympia School District since July 2017. The district has 12 ranked elementary schools and 9,386 total students across all grade levels, according to U.S. News data.

Washington's top 10 elementary schools

For comparison, none of the Olympia or Tumwater schools cracked the statewide top 10. All 10 are located in the Puget Sound suburbs east and north of Seattle:

  1. Challenge Elementary, Mountlake Terrace (enrollment: 414)
  2. Medina Elementary School, Medina (enrollment: 591)
  3. Sunrise Elementary, Redmond (enrollment: 322)
  4. Christa McAuliffe Elementary, Sammamish (enrollment: 472)
  5. Somerset Elementary School, Bellevue (enrollment: 741)
  6. Frantz Coe Elementary School, Seattle (enrollment: 467)
  7. Tambark Creek Elementary School, Bothell (enrollment: 740)
  8. Lakeridge Elementary School, Mercer Island (enrollment: 401)
  9. Island Park Elementary, Mercer Island (enrollment: 364)
  10. Capt. Johnston Blakely Elementary School, Bainbridge Island (enrollment: 356)

The full rankings are available at usnews.com.