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What clubs or activities at Bethel Middle School are worth joining?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
661
Middle
DISTRICT 712 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530048000120
Bethel Middle School
22201 38th Avenue East, Spanaway, WA 98387 · (253) 800-7200 · Pierce County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL661 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.3:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
420 students
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 215 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 221 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 225 | 34% |
Student demographics
76%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · STATE 68% · 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
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
47.8%
WA avg 58.4% . -3.3pp since 2014
Math
29.2%
WA avg 51.2% . -11.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 48 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 29 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 11 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 47.8% | 29.2% |
| 2023-24 | 43.8% | 27.9% |
| 2022-23 | 40.6% | 27.8% |
| 2021-22 | 38.5% | 20.9% |
| 2018-19 | 51.1% | 34.7% |
| 2017-18 | 50.0% | 35.6% |
| 2016-17 | 47.9% | 35.4% |
| 2015-16 | 47.7% | 36.0% |
| 2014-15 | 51.1% | 40.5% |
% Met or Exceeded Standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Smarter Balanced + WCAS. 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
36.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.6%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 37% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% typical for Washington 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 Washington'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 →
Where Bethel Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #178 of 294 | #28 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 29.2% | #220 of 357 | #29 of 45 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.8% | #171 of 357 | #23 of 45 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +8.8pp | #29 of 290 | #5 of 45 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 661 | #158 of 377 | #20 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.9:1 | #267 of 340 | #30 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.9% | #34 of 340 | #14 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 63.5% | #93 of 359 | #12 of 45 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.9% | #157 of 192 | #18 of 23 |
Ranked against other public middle 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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
661
-17 (-3%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 728
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
was 20.6:1
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 | 661 | 31.7 | 20.9:1 | 64% (420) |
| 2023-24 | 668 | 32.6 | 20.5:1 | 57% (384) |
| 2022-23 | 697 | 33.8 | 20.6:1 | 68% (471) |
| 2020-21 | 678 | 33 | 20.6:1 | 64% (436) |
| 2017-18 | 695 | 33.4 | 20.8:1 | 56% (387) |
| 2015-16 | 635 | 31 | 20.5:1 | 53% (334) |
| 2010-11 | 556 | 28 | 19.9:1 | 27% (151) |
| 2000-01 | 1,130 | 53 | 21.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 728 | 35 | 20.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bethel Middle School.
About Bethel Middle School
In Spanaway, Washington, Bethel Middle School is a medium-sized middle school. Grades offered run from 6 through 8, with 661 students enrolled.
Bethel School District counts 21,732 students in its 39 schools, and Bethel Middle School is one of them.
Enrollment at Bethel Middle School is mixed, with White students the largest group at 34%. Other reported shares: 27% Hispanic, 19% multiracial, 8% Pacific Islander, and 8% Black. That compares with about 64% White among all Pierce County residents. Bethel Middle School has a diversity index of 76%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school has about 20.9 students per teacher and 31.7 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among middle schools in Washington is 18.9:1, lower than at this school. About 64% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. The 50% average for public schools in Pierce County is 14 points lower.
Bethel Middle School's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (36.8%) and its predicted rate (37.6%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Washington schools.
Bethel Middle School is located in Pierce County, where median household income is about $99,564, about 31% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Bethel Middle School is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County, which together enroll about 138,462 students.
The next-closest public school is Shining Mountain Elementary, about 0.1 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Nearby schools average 46.8% on proficiency, and Bethel Middle School is below that at 36.8%.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
The number of students dropped from 678 to 661 over 4 years.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Pierce County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
930,319
Census ACS
Median income
$99,564
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
287
138,462 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bethel School District
- Graham Kapowsin High SchoolHigh · 2,087 students
- Spanaway Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,787 students
- Bethel High SchoolHigh · 1,688 students
- Liberty Middle SchoolMiddle · 857 students
- Spanaway Middle SchoolMiddle · 766 students
- Cedarcrest Middle SchoolMiddle · 765 students
Other schools in Spanaway
- Spanaway Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,787 students
- Bethel High SchoolHigh · 1,688 students
- Liberty Middle SchoolMiddle · 857 students
- Cedarcrest Middle SchoolMiddle · 765 students
- Shining Mountain ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Elk Plain School of ChoiceElementary · 574 students
Nearby schools
- Shining Mountain Elementary0.1 mi · 613
- Bethel High School0.3 mi · 1,688
- Elk Plain School of Choice1.0 mi · 574
- Centennial Elementary1.9 mi · 540
- North Star Elementary2.4 mi · 446
- Pioneer Valley Elementary2.4 mi · 524
Frequently asked questions
About Bethel Middle SchoolHow many students attend Bethel Middle School?
Bethel Middle School enrolls approximately 661 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Bethel Middle School serve?
Bethel Middle School serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bethel Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Bethel Middle School is approximately 20.9:1 (32 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bethel Middle School?
At Bethel Middle School, the student body is approximately 34% White, 27% Hispanic, 8% Black, 3% Asian, 19% Two or more.
Who oversees Bethel Middle School?
Bethel Middle School is overseen by Bethel School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.