Enrollment
243
Middle
DISTRICT 265 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HIGHLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530351003148
Highland Middle School
17000 Summitview, Cowiche, WA 98923 · (509) 678-8870 · Yakima County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL243 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 15% of Washington public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Washington public middle schools
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
13 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.8:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
186 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 51%
Community
0
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 6 | 82 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 80 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 81 | 33% |
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 36% · 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
Highland Middle School→Highland High School
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Highland School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
33.7%
WA avg 58.4% . -4.3pp since 2014
Math
16.4%
WA avg 51.2% . -25.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 16 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 4 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 25 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.7% | 16.4% |
| 2023-24 | 32.8% | 9.6% |
| 2022-23 | 40.8% | 19.9% |
| 2021-22 | 45.7% | 27.7% |
| 2018-19 | 56.3% | 40.1% |
| 2017-18 | 38.2% | 34.0% |
| 2016-17 | 41.3% | 36.9% |
| 2015-16 | 35.2% | 32.9% |
| 2014-15 | 38.0% | 41.9% |
% 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
23.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
28.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 29% 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 Highland Middle School
Highland Middle School's state test result (23.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Middle School this school | 243 | 76.5% | 23.2% |
| Warden Middle School WARDEN | 227 | 81.9% | 21.1% |
| Robert L Olds Junior High School Connell | 322 | 79.2% | 26.5% |
| Zillah Middle School Zillah | 300 | 72.0% | 35.0% |
| Endeavor Middle School Moses Lake | 270 | 82.6% | 15.6% |
| Orchard Middle School WENATCHEE | 395 | 76.7% | N/A |
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 Highland Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Yakima County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 23.2% | #259 of 294 | #11 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.4% | #318 of 357 ▲ 34 | #14 of 17 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.7% | #285 of 357 ▲ 6 | #9 of 17 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -11.6pp | #1 of 290 | #1 of 17 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 243 | #326 of 377 | #16 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.5:1 | #126 of 340 | #5 of 16 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.3% | #306 of 340 | #9 of 16 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 76.5% | #33 of 359 | #11 of 17 |
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
243
+61 (+34%) vs 2020
+16% since 2010-11, when it was 210
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
was 18.2:1
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 | 243 | 13.1 | 18.5:1 | 77% (186) |
| 2023-24 | 253 | 14.1 | 18.0:1 | 86% (218) |
| 2022-23 | 191 | 11 | 17.3:1 | 86% (164) |
| 2020-21 | 182 | 10 | 18.2:1 | 80% (146) |
| 2017-18 | 197 | 10.7 | 18.5:1 | 86% (170) |
| 2015-16 | 168 | 9 | 18.7:1 | 81% (136) |
| 2010-11 | 210 | 12 | 17.5:1 | 71% (150) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 23% (197 to 243); teachers up 23% (10.7 to 13.1).
About Highland Middle School
Highland Middle School is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a middle school in Cowiche, Washington. The school counted 243 students in 2024-25, covering grades 6 through 8. That puts enrollment 58% below the 577-student average for middle schools in Washington.
Highland Middle School is one school in a 4-school district, Highland School District, which enrolls 1,060 students.
At Highland Middle School, 79% of students are Hispanic. Other students are 21% White. That is higher than the 52% Hispanic share among all Yakima County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 33%.
There are about 18.5 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Highland Middle School, which has 13.1. The average ratio among middle schools in Washington is similar, at 18.9:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Highland Middle School is about 77%. The figure for public schools in Yakima County is close, at 77%.
Among Washington public middle schools, Highland Middle School outscored 15%, which works out to a C- on the allk12 Grade.
The model predicts 28.9% for a school in Washington with Highland Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch share. Highland Middle School posts 23.2%.
In Yakima County, the median household earns about $70,656 a year, about 19% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 12%. Across Yakima County, 119 public schools serve about 52,145 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Highland High School, is less than a tenth of a mile. There are 6 other public schools within five miles. On state test proficiency, Highland Middle School ranks 8th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Rural: Fringe.
Since 2020-21, enrollment has grown 34%, from 182 to 243.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Highland Middle School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Yakima County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
257,152
Census ACS
Median income
$70,656
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
119
52,145 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Highland School District
- Highland High SchoolHigh · 366 students
- Marcus Whitman-Cowiche ElementaryElementary · 249 students
- Tieton Elementary SchoolElementary · 202 students
Other schools in Cowiche
- Highland High SchoolHigh · 366 students
- Marcus Whitman-Cowiche ElementaryElementary · 249 students
Other Highland Middle schools
17 other US public schools in 13 states are named Highland Middle. Highland Middle School is the 16th largest of the 18.
- Highland Middle SchoolSpokane, WA · 704 students
- Highland Middle SchoolBellevue, WA · 589 students
- Highland Middle SchoolAnderson, IN · 916 students
- Highland Middle SchoolMedina, OH · 824 students
- HIGHLAND MIDDLE SCHOOLHOBBS, NM · 808 students
Nearby schools
- Highland High School0.0 mi · 366
- Marcus Whitman-Cowiche Elementary1.4 mi · 249
- Tieton Elementary School3.0 mi · 202
- Naches Valley Elementary School3.6 mi · 482
- Naches Valley Middle School3.8 mi · 427
- Naches Valley High School4.3 mi · 399
Frequently asked questions
About Highland Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Highland Middle School?
Highland Middle School enrolls approximately 243 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Highland Middle School serve?
Highland Middle School serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Highland Middle School?
Approximately 18.5:1 students per teacher at Highland Middle School.
What is the student diversity at Highland Middle School?
Student demographics at Highland Middle School are roughly 21% White, 79% Hispanic, 0% Asian.
Who oversees Highland Middle School?
Highland Middle School is overseen by Highland School District in Yakima County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.