Happy Valley in 1956
Happy Valley Elementary School, located adjacent to Western Washington University, is in Bellingham, Washington, which is a growing community situated in the North Puget Sound. It serves an ethnically and socio-economically diverse population of approximately 500 students, in grades K-5. It was created in 1956 when there was a need for a new school to house the kids of the growing population in the south side of Bellingham. When Happy Valley Elementary School opened in November 1956, to 203 students, it was surrounded by a rural atmosphere with cows and horses. Today, the school's population stands at 496 children with a teaching staff of approximately 35. The cows and horses are gone, as well as the fields. As our area grows, Western Washington University is rapidly encroaching on the Happy Valley neighborhood.