Enrollment
126
High
STATE 573
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WHY NOT YOU ACADEMY·NCES 530034903783
Cascade Public Schools
22419 Pacific Highway South, Des Moines, WA 98198 · (253) 271-8629 · King County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBCHARTERREGULAR SCHOOL126 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
8 FTE teachers
STATE 21.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
21%
26 students
STATE 51%
Community
0
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 | 14 | 11% |
| Grade 10 | 33 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 32 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 47 | 37% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
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
12.1%
WA avg 58.4% . -32.8pp since 2022
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 12 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level. The Washington average is about 58 of 100. Reading and writing scores are down about 33 points since 2022.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 12.1% | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 18.6% | 7.0% |
| 2022-23 | 44.9% | 11.5% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
14.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.4%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-51.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 66% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Cascade Public Schools
Cascade Public Schools's state test result (14.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Public Schools this school | 126 | 20.6% | 14.8% |
| Summit Public School: Sierra Seattle | 214 | 38.3% | 45.4% |
| Garfield High School SEATTLE | 1,507 | 41.2% | 53.7% |
| Rainier Beach High School SEATTLE | 854 | 66.9% | 19.4% |
| Green Hill Academic School Chehalis | 163 | 52.8% | N/A |
| Middle College High School SEATTLE | 93 | 47.3% | 52.6% |
Matched among Washington 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 Cascade Public Schools ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In King County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 14.8% | #269 of 271 | #58 of 59 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.0% | #320 of 321 ▼ 27 | #59 of 59 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 12.1% | #324 of 327 ▼ 3 | #61 of 61 ▼ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 126 | #365 of 570 | #76 of 97 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 20.6% | #354 of 386 | #53 of 76 |
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.
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 126 | 8 | 15.8:1 | 21% (26) |
| 2023-24 | 193 | 12.1 | 16.0:1 | 5% (10) |
| 2022-23 | 146 | 11.1 | 13.2:1 | 95% (139) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cascade Public Schools.
About Cascade Public Schools
Cascade Public Schools is a small high school serving families in Des Moines, Washington. The latest federal count shows 126 students in grades 9 through 12. The average for high schools in Washington is about 573 students, so this school is 78% smaller than average.
Cascade Public Schools is listed under Why Not You Academy in federal data.
A majority of students at Cascade Public Schools, 69%, are Black. Other reported shares: 15% Hispanic, 10% White, 2% Asian, and 2% multiracial. King County's residents are about 7% Black, 62 points below the school's share. Cascade Public Schools has a diversity index of 49%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Teachers at the school number 8 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 15.8:1. Among high schools in Washington, the typical ratio is 21.6:1. The school's lunch program data list 21% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The average for public schools in King County is 38%.
Compared with Washington schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Cascade Public Schools scores 51.5 points lower than predicted. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 14.8%; the prediction is 66.4%.
In the county around the school, King County, median household income is about $124,746, about 57% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 5%. A total of 544 public schools operate in King County, serving about 278,492 students.
The nearest other public school, Midway Elementary, is about 0.3 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On average proficiency, Cascade Public Schools is 8th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
Locale data from NCES put Cascade Public Schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large). Cascade Public Schools is run as a public charter school.
Parents and students can post about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Cascade Public Schools. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
King County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,287,171
Census ACS
Median income
$124,746
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
544
278,492 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Des Moines
- Mount Rainier High SchoolHigh · 1,846 students
- Pacific Middle SchoolMiddle · 604 students
- Midway ElementaryElementary · 548 students
- Parkside ElementaryElementary · 535 students
- North Hill ElementaryElementary · 518 students
- Des Moines ElementaryElementary · 500 students
Nearby schools
- Midway Elementary0.3 mi · 548
- Pacific Middle School0.3 mi · 604
- Mount Rainier High School0.5 mi · 1,846
- River Ridge Elementary0.5 mi · 697
- Des Moines Elementary1.1 mi · 500
- Madrona Elementary1.4 mi · 317
Frequently asked questions
About Cascade Public SchoolsHow large is Cascade Public Schools?
Cascade Public Schools enrolls approximately 126 students in grades 09-12.
Is Cascade Public Schools an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cascade Public Schools is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Cascade Public Schools have?
Cascade Public Schools employs 8 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1.
How diverse is Cascade Public Schools?
Cascade Public Schools reports a student body of 10% White, 15% Hispanic, 69% Black, 2% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Cascade Public Schools?
Cascade Public Schools is overseen by Why Not You Academy in King County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.