Foss High School

Foss High School is a mid-tier secondary school in Tacoma, Washington, part of Tacoma School District. The school educates 599 students in grades 9 through 12.

Across the 66 schools in Tacoma School District (28,900 students total), Foss High School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Foss High School records that the largest single group is Hispanic at 25%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 24% White, 21% Black, 16% multiracial, 8% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 13% Hispanic, putting the school's mix noticeably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Foss High School has 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 19.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 21.6:1 average. An estimated 69% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Pierce County's rate of about 50%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Foss High School is in the bottom 10% of Washington public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 33.6%; Foss High School posts 19.5%, -14.2 points below that line.

Around the school, census data for Pierce County shows median household income runs about $99,564, about 31% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Pierce County runs 287 public schools (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students), of which Foss High School is one.

Delong Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.7 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Foss High School at 5th of 5; the average score across the group is 40.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a city-core area.

Looking at the recent track record. Foss High School's enrollment has fell 24% since 2018, when it stood at 791 (now 599). Over the same period, the White share edged down from 33% to 24%. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 17.8:1 in 2018 to 19.2:1 today.

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