Chinook Middle School

Chinook Middle School, an average-sized intermediate school in Lacey, Washington, overseen by North Thurston Public Schools, hosts 746 students, covering grades 6 through 8. That puts it 29% larger than the typical public school in Washington, which averages around 577 students.

Chinook Middle School is one of 24 schools operated by North Thurston Public Schools, a district that serves 15,167 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Chinook Middle School logs that 38% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 29% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, 9% Asian, 6% Black. The wider county runs roughly 72% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, Chinook Middle School shows 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 19.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 18.9:1, putting Chinook Middle School higher than the state norm the norm. Around 55% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Thurston County runs at roughly 43%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Chinook Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 43.0%, the actual is 38.8%, a residual of -4.2 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Thurston County shows median household earnings sit near $96,563, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Chinook Middle School is one of 86 public schools in Thurston County (combined enrollment of about 44,412 students).

Nearest neighbor: Envision Career Academy, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 5 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Chinook Middle School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 42.7%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Chinook Middle School has changed only slightly, going from 743 students in 2018 to 746 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share decreased from 47% to 38%.

On this page, members of the Chinook Middle School community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.