Dower Elementary School
Lakewood, WA 98499
Phone: (253) 583-5240
Fax: (253) 583-5248
District: Clover Park School District
GreatSchools Rating
public • Grades PK,KG,1,2,3,4,5 • 338 students
Dower Elementary School, a public school located in Lakewood, WA, serves grades PK-5 in the Clover Park School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 3 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.
Dower Elementary School is a public school located in Lakewood, WA. 338 students attend Dower Elementary School.
School Ratings
| Category | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test Scores | 2/10 | The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Smarter Balanced Assessment data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and using 2025 Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. |
| Student Growth | 4/10 | The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. |
Posted: November 1, 2025
Send your child here if you are ok with them being assaulted by another child and them doing the bare minimum to correct the situation and they won't call you either. Your child will come home and tell you about being stabbed in the arm by another child and all they did was send him to the nurse. Also they will just move the child from the table instead of having that child sent home for their behavior. I WILL BE REMOVING MY CHILD FROM THIS SCHOOL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Posted: November 1, 2025
Posted: November 1, 2025
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Posted: November 1, 2025
Posted: September 2, 2025
I have had the best possible experience with having my child at Dower. We didn't do preschool or any daycare before kindergarten so you can imagine how nervous we all were. We have been a Dower family now going on four years, I have loved every teacher that has been assigned.
I really believe that the staff here genuinely cares about each and every student, I feel entirely safe leaving my child in their hands, I don't think any other school could have made me feel as comfortable as Dower.
Posted: September 2, 2025
Posted: September 2, 2025
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Posted: October 30, 2023
Principal, counselor, teachers cant be bothered to help resolve issues with bullies pushing and punching your child. They do not return your calls. Principal emailed us stating the counselor would call us. No call ever came. They just pass it off to the next person with no resolution. This is not a safe place for your child to attend school. Wish I could give a negative star review, if any school deserves it, its this one
Posted: October 30, 2023
Posted: October 30, 2023
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Posted: October 30, 2023
Posted: October 30, 2023
Posted: October 30, 2023
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
Posted: February 1, 2018
My son just started at Dower this year. My experience with them has been very "fake it till you make it". They put o a great charade for the community . They always have events and fun activities going on. But the staff that I have dealt with have all been bitter and unpleasant. His teacher is a first year teacher who has no clue how to handle kids. She only communicates with me now because I have complained about her not doing so and she is extremely resistant to any feedback I've offered her on bettering my kids issues in her class. I can NOT STAND this school and I can not wait to transfer my kid to a place where they will actually take an interest in how the kids are doing and where they will work alongside the parents no a regular basis. Not just parent teacher conferences .
Posted: November 17, 2013
Dower Elementary is a Kids at Hope school. We believe that all students are talented, smart, and capable of success. I'm sorry for those who have had negative experiences in the past. Our staff works hard to engage kids in meaningful learning in a respectful, responsible and safe learning enviornment. We invite families to join us in our family activities and in volunteer opportunities.
Posted: July 25, 2013
Great teachers, awful principal. My children were happy, and the teachers always made sure, that as parents we were involved. The buildings were fairly updated and facilities clean. I was not impressed with the principal. We called CPS on a separate set of parents because of some things they had done to my son, and I called the principal asking to discuss this with her. I called back several days later, and then a third time a few days after that. Not only did she not ONCE return my calls, when I asked her if she'd heard my messages, she brushed me off. I found out a while later that this parent had not only been a chaperone for 2 field trips, but had been allowed to get my son away from the other students and teachers. Fortunately nothing bad happened, but we changed schools IMMEDIATELY. Mrs Dawson doesn't take the child's safety seriously enough. She should be ashamed.
Posted: March 13, 2013
UNHELPFULL! Not only was the lady extremely rude but was extremely unhelpful in answering my questions. I called about enrolling my daughter into all day kindergarden and she acted like it was sooo hard to give me information to basic questions. If thats the kind of atmosphere my daughter will be around i want nothing to do with it.
Posted: August 28, 2011
My son went to Kindergarten here 2 years ago, and loved it. We never had a problem and my son got lots of attention because of the small classes. Very understanding to military sitiuations such as helping my son deal with deployments and missing school when daddy was on leave or coming home. No complaints once so ever! Oh and I also loved how they got parents involved with the classrooms, I also took a free parenting class which included free dinner and child care.
Posted: December 19, 2010
I was new to the area and thought this was the only school in our district. I would not suggest this school to anyone. Within the first few days, my son would come home crying and upset saying that he "wasn't learning anything" . So my husband decided to sit in class with him for 2 days to see what was being taught. Upon entering the class, my husband was approached by 2 little boys asking was he "packing a gun". On the 2nd day, the teacher was not able to have story time because she couldn't control the class. At that moment, my son was disenrolled & put into a different district. In a matter of two weeks, he was reading, writing better, and spelling.
Reviews provided by GreatSchools™
| # | Name | Type | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian Village | Apartment Complex | Lakewood | WA | 1 mi | |
| 2 | westridge apartments | Apartment Complex | Tacoma | WA | 4 mi | |
| 3 | North End | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Tacoma | WA | 5.8 mi | |
| 4 | Stadium District | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Tacoma | WA | 6.5 mi | |
| 5 | Clocktower | Neighborhood/Subdivision | DuPont | WA | 8.5 mi | |
| 6 | Gem Heights | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Puyallup | WA | 11.5 mi | |
| 7 | Silver Creek | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Puyallup | WA | 12.1 mi | |
| 8 | Lost Creek | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Graham | WA | 14 mi | |
| 9 | Tahoma Meadows | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Yelm | WA | 17.3 mi | |
| 10 | Avonlea | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Lacey | WA | 19 mi | |
| 11 | Woodsmuir | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Olympia | WA | 19.5 mi | |
| 12 | McCormick Woods | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Port Orchard | WA | 23.1 mi | |
| 13 | The Ridge at McCormick Woods | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Port Orchard | WA | 23.6 mi | |
| 14 | The Carriages at Fairwood Downs | Apartment Complex | Renton | WA | 25.2 mi | |
| 15 | Manette | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Bremerton | WA | 26.8 mi | |
| 16 | Kitsap Lake | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Bremerton | WA | 27.9 mi | |
| 17 | Fairway Lane | Apartment Complex | Bremerton | WA | 29.5 mi | |
| 18 | Blueberry Meadows | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Bremerton | WA | 30.2 mi |
| # | Name | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stonegate | Olympia | WA | 18.8 mi | |
| 2 | Port Orchard | Port Orchard | WA | 25.1 mi | |
| 3 | Maple Valley | Maple Valley | WA | 25.6 mi | |
| 4 | Black Diamond | Black Diamond | WA | 25.8 mi | |
| 5 | Downtown Seattle | Seattle | WA | 30.2 mi | |
| 6 | Bainbridge Island | Bainbridge Island | WA | 30.4 mi | |
| 7 | East Bremerton | Bremerton | WA | 31.2 mi |
| Base | Distance |
|---|---|
| McChord AFB | 4.5 mi. |
| Fort Lewis | 7.3 mi. |
| Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton | 26.7 mi. |
| Coast Guard Seattle | 29.2 mi. |
| Naval Base Kitsap Bangor | 37.7 mi. |
