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What do students at Drum Intermediate actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
639
Middle
DISTRICT 666 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNIVERSITY PLACE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530918002383
Drum Intermediate
4909 79TH AVENUE W, UNIVERSITY PLA, WA 98467 · (253) 566-5660 · Pierce County
GRADES 05–07MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL639 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.4:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.6:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
275 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 5 | 198 | 31% |
| Grade 6 | 212 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 229 | 36% |
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within University Place School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
69.8%
WA avg 58.4% . -6.6pp since 2014
Math
58.7%
WA avg 51.2% . -7.2pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 70 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 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 7 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 7 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 69.8% | 58.7% |
| 2023-24 | 65.4% | 53.8% |
| 2022-23 | 67.3% | 56.0% |
| 2021-22 | 67.3% | 48.1% |
| 2018-19 | 78.4% | 73.5% |
| 2017-18 | 79.9% | 76.3% |
| 2016-17 | 83.0% | 77.3% |
| 2015-16 | 78.6% | 69.1% |
| 2014-15 | 76.4% | 65.9% |
% 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
60.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.3%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 61% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 51% 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 →
Schools most like Drum Intermediate
Drum Intermediate's state test result (60.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drum Intermediate this school | 639 | 43.0% | 60.9% |
| Meeker Middle School Tacoma | 567 | 43.6% | 43.2% |
| Narrows View Intermediate UNIVERSITY PLA | 692 | 42.1% | 72.2% |
| Edgemont Jr High Edgewood | 590 | 43.9% | 44.0% |
| Glacier View Junior High Puyallup | 843 | 45.2% | 42.2% |
| Doris Stahl Junior High Puyallup | 846 | 45.9% | 45.1% |
Matched among Washington middle 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 Drum Intermediate ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 60.9% | #47 of 294 | #4 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 58.7% | #46 of 357 ▲ 16 | #4 of 45 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.8% | #40 of 357 ▲ 13 | #5 of 45 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.5pp | #56 of 290 | #12 of 45 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 639 | #176 of 377 | #24 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.4:1 | #116 of 340 | #10 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 71.5% | #68 of 340 | #23 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.0% | #233 of 359 | #32 of 45 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.5% | #61 of 130 | #11 of 19 |
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. 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
639
+33 (+5%) vs 2020
+20% since 1990-91, when it was 531
Student : Teacher
18.4:1
was 17.3:1
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 | 639 | 34.7 | 18.4:1 | 43% (275) |
| 2023-24 | 633 | 34.9 | 18.1:1 | 45% (288) |
| 2022-23 | 587 | 34.9 | 16.8:1 | 48% (281) |
| 2020-21 | 606 | 35 | 17.3:1 | 42% (254) |
| 2017-18 | 589 | 33.5 | 17.6:1 | 38% (226) |
| 2015-16 | 614 | 31 | 19.8:1 | 41% (251) |
| 2010-11 | 622 | 33 | 18.9:1 | 36% (227) |
| 2000-01 | 548 | 28 | 19.6:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 531 | 28 | 19.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Drum Intermediate.
Since 2017-18: students up 8% (589 to 639); teachers up 4% (33.5 to 34.7).
About Drum Intermediate
Drum Intermediate is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a middle-grades school in UNIVERSITY PLA, Washington. Its 639 students are spread across grades 5 through 7.
University Place School District (8 schools, 5,635 students) runs Drum Intermediate.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Drum Intermediate. The largest is White students, at 45%. The remaining students are 18% multiracial, 17% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 8% Black. Census figures show Pierce County is about 64% White. Drum Intermediate's diversity index is 71%, against a US figure of 70%.
Drum Intermediate employs 34.7 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 18.4:1. That matches the 18.9:1 average for middle schools in Washington fairly closely. Drum Intermediate's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 43%.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 60.9%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 51.3%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Pierce County show that the median household income is $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Drum Intermediate is one of 287 public schools in the county.
Narrows View Intermediate is the public school closest to Drum Intermediate, about 0.4 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Drum Intermediate ranks 5th of 9 nearby schools, at 60.9% versus a 62.7% average.
The NCES locale for Drum Intermediate is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has grown by 33 students since 2020-21, to 639. By 2024-25, the school had 18.4 students per teacher, compared with 17.3 in 2020-21.
Topics for discussion here include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 University Place School District
- Curtis Senior HighHigh · 1,321 students
- Curtis Junior HighHigh · 904 students
- Narrows View IntermediateMiddle · 692 students
- Sunset PrimaryElementary · 548 students
- University Place PrimaryElementary · 522 students
- Evergreen PrimaryElementary · 516 students
Other schools in UNIVERSITY PLA
- Narrows View IntermediateMiddle · 692 students
- University Place PrimaryElementary · 522 students
- Chambers ElementaryElementary · 493 students
Nearby schools
- Narrows View Intermediate0.4 mi · 692
- Evergreen Primary0.6 mi · 516
- Curtis Senior High0.8 mi · 1,321
- Chambers Elementary0.8 mi · 493
- Curtis Junior High1.0 mi · 904
- Sunset Primary1.1 mi · 548
Frequently asked questions
About Drum IntermediateWhat is the total enrollment at Drum Intermediate?
Drum Intermediate enrolls approximately 639 students in grades 05-07.
What grades does Drum Intermediate serve?
Drum Intermediate serves grades 05-07.
How many students per teacher at Drum Intermediate?
Approximately 18.4:1 students per teacher at Drum Intermediate.
How diverse is Drum Intermediate?
Drum Intermediate reports a student body of 45% White, 17% Hispanic, 8% Black, 10% Asian, 18% Two or more.
Who oversees Drum Intermediate?
Drum Intermediate is overseen by University Place School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.