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What's one community event at Palmer High School more people should show up to?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
616
High
DISTRICT 468 · STATE 373
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020051000227
Palmer High School
1170 W Bogard Rd, Palmer, AK 99645 · (907) 746-8400 · Matanuska-Susitna Borough
GRADES 09–12HIGH23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL616 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of Alaska public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alaska public high schools
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 25.4:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
215 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 193 | 31% |
| Grade 10 | 145 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 150 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 128 | 21% |
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
35.2%
AK avg 36.1% . +11.8pp since 2023
Math
23.4%
AK avg 34.6% . +2.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 35 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 23 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 12 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 35.2% | 23.4% |
| 2023-24 | 23.4% | 20.8% |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
29.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.3%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alaska's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Palmer High School
Palmer High School's state test result (29.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer High School this school | 616 | 34.9% | 29.3% |
| Wasilla High School Wasilla | 816 | 33.3% | 30.6% |
| Colony High School Palmer | 1,046 | 31.3% | 36.2% |
| Joe Redington Senior Jr/Sr High School Wasilla | 497 | 45.5% | 26.0% |
| Kenai Central High School Kenai | 525 | 36.0% | 29.8% |
| Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High School Wasilla | 705 | 25.0% | 40.9% |
Matched among Alaska high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Palmer High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska | In Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.3% | #22 of 39 | #5 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 23.4% | #19 of 43 ▲ 5 | #4 of 7 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 35.2% | #20 of 44 ▲ 17 | #4 of 7 ▲ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 616 | #16 of 72 | #4 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #11 of 38 | #4 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.9% | #24 of 38 | #5 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 34.9% | #21 of 45 | #5 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.5% | #5 of 28 | #1 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
616
-83 (-12%) vs 2020
-31% since 1990-91, when it was 897
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 16.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 616 | 37 | 16.6:1 | 35% (215) |
| 2023-24 | 649 | 42.8 | 15.2:1 | 35% (228) |
| 2022-23 | 760 | 42 | 18.1:1 | 33% (253) |
| 2020-21 | 699 | 43 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 765 | 42 | 18.2:1 | 31% (238) |
| 2015-16 | 793 | 39 | 20.3:1 | 28% (223) |
| 2010-11 | 774 | 45 | 17.2:1 | 25% (192) |
| 2000-01 | 913 | 46 | 19.9:1 | 15% (133) |
| 1990-91 | 897 | 48 | 18.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palmer High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (765 to 616); teachers down 12% (42 to 37).
About Palmer High School
Palmer High School sits in Palmer, Alaska, and is classified as a high school. Enrolled students number 616 students, in grades 9 through 12. Statewide, high schools in Alaska average about 373 students each.
Palmer High School belongs to Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, a district of 49 schools and 19,495 students.
White students account for 67% of enrollment at Palmer High School. Other students are 12% multiracial, 10% Hispanic, and 8% Native American. That is lower than the 77% White share among all Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents. Palmer High School has a diversity index of 52%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal staffing data show 37 full-time-equivalent teachers at Palmer High School and a ratio of 16.6:1. Across high schools in Alaska, the average ratio is about 17.0:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 35% of students. Public schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough average 45%.
Measured against Alaska public high schools, Palmer High School receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 41.3% for Palmer High School. The school posts 29.3%, 12.1 points below the prediction.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough has about 112,988 residents, and median household income is about $94,031, 24% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. The public schools of Matanuska-Susitna Borough number 49 and enroll about 19,495.
Nearby, Palmer Middle School is about 1.2 miles away. Palmer High School is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Local comparison: Palmer High School ranks 5th of 5 nearby schools, at 29.3% versus a 41.5% average.
Federal data place Palmer High School in the Suburb: Small locale, which means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
Palmer High School saw enrollment fall 12% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
To ask about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
112,988
Census ACS
Median income
$94,031
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
24%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
49
19,495 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
- Mat-Su Central SchoolCombined · 2,780 students
- Colony High SchoolHigh · 1,046 students
- Wasilla High SchoolHigh · 816 students
- Colony Middle SchoolElementary · 771 students
- Mat-Su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolHigh · 705 students
- Teeland Middle SchoolElementary · 643 students
Other schools in Palmer
- Colony High SchoolHigh · 1,046 students
- Colony Middle SchoolElementary · 771 students
- Palmer Middle SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Pioneer Peak ElementaryElementary · 449 students
- Birchtree Charter SchoolElementary · 416 students
- Sherrod ElementaryElementary · 383 students
Other Palmer High schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Palmer High. Palmer High School is the 2nd largest of the 4.
- Palmer High SchoolCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO · 1,265 students
- Palmer HighPalmer, MA · 416 students
- Palmer High SchoolPALMER, TX · 403 students
Nearby schools
- Palmer Middle School1.2 mi · 563
- Swanson Elementary1.2 mi · 348
- Sherrod Elementary1.3 mi · 383
- Valley Pathways1.4 mi · 143
- Academy Charter School1.4 mi · 268
- Mat-Su Secondary School1.7 mi · 10
Frequently asked questions
About Palmer High SchoolHow many students attend Palmer High School?
Palmer High School enrolls approximately 616 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Palmer High School serve?
Palmer High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Palmer High School?
Approximately 16.6:1 students per teacher at Palmer High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Palmer High School?
At Palmer High School, the student body is approximately 67% White, 10% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is Palmer High School public or private?
Palmer High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.