School History

Beach Elementary School, located on Lummi Island, is a part of the Ferndale School District. Lummi Island stretches seven miles and is located approximately 25 minutes from Interstate 5, which includes a short 7-10 minute ferry ride from Gooseberry Landing. Lummi Island is home to about 700 year-round residents. During the summer months, the population of the island may more than double. Many cottage business enterprises are prevalent on Lummi Island.

The original 5261 square foot building was constructed in 1919. Since then children of Lummi Island have been educated in this building. Additionally, 2809 square feet were added in 1978, for a total of 8070 square feet. During the past few years, facility improvements have been made to the school. Some of them include: restroom downstairs, new fuel tank for furnace and vehicle fueling, mini blinds in classroom and gym, replaced all windows with thermal pane, storage annex, painting sidewalks to exterior entries, playfield fencing, improvements to address Americans with Disabilities Act, out buildings, and an improved bus garage. The October 1, 2006 enrollment, kindergarten through sixth grade was 52. The student capacity of the school site is 60. The average class size is 17 (excluding music and special programs).

The teaching staff at Beach Elementary School consists of three classroom teachers, a part-time principal manager, and a part-time off site supervisor, part-time specialists include a librarian, music, teacher, psychologist, nurse, and an on-call communication disorder specialist. The on-site support staff consists of one secretary, three part time assistants (library, classroom, lunchroom, playground/PE), and a part-time custodian and one bus driver. There are the equivalent of 3.151 full time certificated positions and the equivalent of 2.235 full-time classified instructional support positions.

The grade levels are broken into the following classroom settings: Kindergarten through first, second and third, and fourth through sixth. Curriculum includes multiage instructional groups and integrated thematic units.

Inservice activities and substitutes are readily accessible for teachers. The Beach School schedule is 8:10 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. The schedule allows teachers from Beach to make the ferry ride after school to attend district meetings.

The school is able to utilize electronic learning to promote educational opportunities for all of their students. Students are very proficient in accessing the internet and use it for much of their research. Most students are able to access the internet from their homes as well.

Many artisans reside on the island and share their talents with the community and the school children. Beach School enjoys many hours of volunteerism each year from parents and community members. Parents are very supportive of Beach Elementary School and feel their children are receiving an outstanding education. Parents feel the movement of students, after sixth grade, to the mainland schools is a smooth transition for most of their children. Some unique costs to the school are ferry tickets, transportation costs for teachers, administrators and support personnel.