Cascade Public Schools

Cascade Public Schools operates as an one-room-style four-year high school in Des Moines, Washington, run under Why Not You Academy. Current enrollment sits at 126 students spanning grades 9 through 12. That puts it 78% below the typical public school in Washington, which averages around 573 students.

Why Not You Academy is the operating authority for Cascade Public Schools, handling staffing, calendars, and reporting to the state department of education.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Cascade Public Schools shows that Black students make up the majority at 69%. The remainder consists of 15% Hispanic, 10% White, 2% Asian, 2% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 7% Black, putting the school's mix noticeably more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Cascade Public Schools lists 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 21.6:1, putting Cascade Public Schools tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 21% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably below King County's rate of about 38%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Cascade Public Schools falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 66.4%; this one comes in at 14.8%, -51.5 points off the demographic line.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (King County) logs that median household income runs about $124,746, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across King County's 544 public schools (combined enrollment of about 278,492 students), Cascade Public Schools is one campus in the mix.

Midway Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Cascade Public Schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Cascade Public Schools ranks 8th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 23.3%.

The campus sits in an outer-ring setting. As a public charter, Cascade Public Schools runs on public funding but with greater curricular and operational autonomy than a typical district school.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.