Chehalis School District

American public school district in Washington state

Due to age and structural issues in and outside of both Cascade and R. E. Bennet, the school district first proposed a bond measure to fund replacing Cascade and modernizing R. E. Bennett in 2011. The measure, tallying less than 53% of the vote, failed to pass due to a lack of a supermajority. In 2014, Chehalis resident Gail Shaw betrothed the district with 43 acres of land near the Chehalis Middle School. Valued at $1.9 million, the land was meant to be used as the location of a new school to replace Cascade Elementary. By February 2015, Chehalis voters, by a 62% margin, approved a $35.9 million bond for the schools. The following year, the school board voted to name the two new elementary schools, which would replace R. E. Bennett, Cascade and Olympic, in honor of James W. Lintott and Orin C. Smith. The campus was named for the Shaw family.

W. F. West High School

Previously, elementary students in the public school system in Chehalis attended Cascade Elementary School for kindergarten and first grade, R. E. Bennett Elementary School for second and third grades, and Olympic Elementary School for fourth and fifth grades. During the 2023 24 school year, there were 47 teachers on staff, with 659 enrolled students. The student population met Washington state standards of 55.8% for science, 49.1% for English language arts and a 47.5% rate for math. The school mascot is the Cougars, represented by the colors crimson and gray, similar to the high school.

In November 2006, the district had an enrollment of 2,596 students., and 2,791 students in a May 2015 report. The Chehalis School District reported an enrollment of 3,053 students in 2018, with a trend of slightly lower numbers following a register of 3,027 students in 2020 and 2,987 in 2023. The CSD implemented a plan in 2013–2014, referred to as the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI), that within 8 years of graduating, 60% of the students would receive a degree or certification from a technical training program or college. To achieve the goal, all seniors in high school were to submit an application for acceptance to Centralia College. Coupled with field trips to Centralia College, this allowed the district to achieve high rates of graduation, college admission, and career opportunities for the students. Officials and teachers in elementary and middle schools created programs to emphasize future college and employment opportunities by holding job assemblies, "swag days" for local and state schools of technical and university education, and "college themed days". In its first three years, the SAI improved the rate of students elegible for a four year college by 8 percentage points. A four year stretch started in 2019 in which 100% of all graduating senior classes were accepted into college. In 2019, the four year graduation rate was 95%, bettering the state average by 14 points.

The CSD offers an education program, known as VISIONS, for students with various disabilities between the ages of 18 and 21. The program, begun in the early 1990s, Students are given vocational training which includes education on social interactions, employment and job tasks, and practical living skills. The VISIONS program partners with staffing services to provide students, both enrolled and graduated, a match with local jobs and living facilities best suited for them.

The SAI was originally funded by donations from the community via the Chehalis Foundation. It included several large contributions made by hometown citizens of note,

The district, in 2022, was awarded a grant of over $1,000,000 from the Washington Student Achievement Council. The funds are to be used to reach out to parents and young children, particularly at risk students.