Kalles Junior High

As a mid-tier middle-grades school in Puyallup, Washington, Kalles Junior High teaches 762 students from grades 7 through 9, run under Puyallup School District. That puts it 32% larger than the typical public school in Washington, which averages around 577 students.

Across the 37 schools in Puyallup School District (23,026 students total), Kalles Junior High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Kalles Junior High lists that 52% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school shows 17% Hispanic, 12% multiracial, 10% Asian, 4% Black. The wider county runs roughly 64% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Kalles Junior High lists 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 22.9:1. The state averages around 18.9:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 40% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Pierce County (around 50%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Kalles Junior High performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 53.3%, the actual is 51.7%, a residual of -1.6 points.

In the surrounding community, Pierce County reports that the typical household earns roughly $99,564 per year, about 31% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Kalles Junior High is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

Nearest neighbor: Stewart Elementary, around 0.5 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Kalles Junior High ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 48.2%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Kalles Junior High has shrank 15%, going from 897 students in 2018 to 762 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 64% to 52%. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 21.6:1 in 2018 to 22.9:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.