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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KENT SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530396000621

Kent-Meridian High School

10020 SE 256th ST, Kent, WA 98030 · (253) 373-7405 · King County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,639 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% of Washington public high 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.
  • DThree-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 high schools

Enrollment
1,639
High
DISTRICT 1,135 · STATE 573
Student : Teacher
21.0:1
78 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 29.0:1 · STATE 21.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
69%
1,130 students
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 939224%
Grade 1042826%
Grade 1140525%
Grade 1241425%
Student demographics
75%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 79% · STATE 68% · US 70%
White
22314%
DISTRICT 26% · STATE 47% · US 43%
Hispanic
65940%
DISTRICT 24% · STATE 27% · US 30%
Black
23815%
DISTRICT 13% · STATE 5% · US 15%
Asian
30519%
DISTRICT 24% · STATE 9% · US 6%
Two+
986%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 9% · US 5%
Native American
50%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 1%
Pacific Islander
1066%
DISTRICT 3% · STATE 2% · US 0%
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
Male
85652%
Female
77847%

Discussions

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Test scores

Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded Standard
English Language Arts
35.7%
WA avg 58.4% . +23.6pp since 2014
Math
11.9%
WA avg 51.2% . +4.8pp since 2014

What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are up about 24 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 5 points.

Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year

School yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2535.7%11.9%
2023-2444.0%11.6%
2022-2341.3%11.6%
2021-2247.4%15.7%
2018-1955.3%26.5%
2017-1850.4%18.7%
2016-179.7%1.2%
2015-1614.4%19.6%
2014-1512.0%7.0%
% 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
24.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.0%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.4pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% 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 Kent-Meridian High School

Kent-Meridian High School's state test result (24.6% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Kent-Meridian High School this school1,63968.9%24.6%
Thomas Jefferson High School
AUBURN
1,81071.9%22.7%
Mount Tahoma High School
Tacoma
1,41069.6%24.9%
Todd Beamer High School
FEDERAL WAY
1,41272.8%25.9%
Federal Way High School
FEDERAL WAY
1,66573.8%22.5%
Lincoln High School
Tacoma
1,55672.7%22.3%
Matched among Washington high 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 Kent-Meridian High School ranks

Among high schools
MeasureThis schoolIn WashingtonIn King County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
24.6%#251 of 271#50 of 59
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
11.9%#297 of 321
▼ 6
#54 of 59
▼ 1
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
35.7%#292 of 327
▼ 22
#54 of 61
▼ 3
3-year test score change
ranked biggest drop first
-7.8pp#37 of 259#7 of 57
Enrollment
ranked largest first
1,639#63 of 570#23 of 97
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
21.0:1#174 of 311#34 of 67
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
75.5%#27 of 316#18 of 67
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
68.9%#64 of 386#10 of 76
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-19.2%#25 of 164#10 of 34
Ranked against other public high 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 2024-25
Enrollment
1,639
-404 (-20%) vs 2020
+26% since 1990-91, when it was 1,305
Student : Teacher
21.0:1
was 21.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-251,63978.221.0:169% (1,130)
2023-241,70689.319.1:169% (1,185)
2022-232,128101.421.0:177% (1,630)
2020-212,0439521.5:171% (1,452)
2017-182,02990.722.4:169% (1,405)
2015-162,1699323.3:172% (1,559)
2010-112,0249022.5:139% (799)
2000-011,3526122.2:1N/A
1990-911,3055822.5:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Kent-Meridian High School.

Since 2017-18: students down 19% (2,029 to 1,639); teachers down 14% (90.7 to 78.2).

About Kent-Meridian High School

In Kent, Washington, part of King County, Kent-Meridian High School is a high school. The school had 1,639 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for high schools in Washington is about 573, so this school runs 186% above that.

Kent School District (44 schools, 25,358 students) runs Kent-Meridian High School.

Enrollment at Kent-Meridian High School is mixed, with Hispanic students the largest group at 40%. Other reported shares: 19% Asian, 15% Black, 14% White, and 6% Pacific Islander. That compares with about 11% Hispanic among all King County residents. By the diversity index, Kent-Meridian High School comes in at 75%.

Teachers at Kent-Meridian High School total 78.2 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 21.0:1. High schools in Washington have a similar average ratio of 21.6:1. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 69%. The average for public schools in King County is 38%.

The allk12 Grade for Kent-Meridian High School is F. Compared with Washington public high schools, the school scored higher than 4% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.

A school with Kent-Meridian High School's lunch-eligibility share in Washington is predicted to score 34.0%. Kent-Meridian High School scores 24.6%, 9.4 points below that line.

King County has these Census figures: median household income is about $124,746, about 57% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 5%. Kent-Meridian High School is among the 544 public schools in King County.

The closest public school, Scenic Hill Elementary School, is about 0.4 miles from Kent-Meridian High School. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Kent-Meridian High School ranks 3rd in a group of 6 nearby schools.

NCES describes the area around Kent-Meridian High School as City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.

Federal counts put enrollment at 2,043 in 2020-21 and 1,639 in 2024-25, a 20% decrease.

Community posts for Kent-Meridian High School can cover sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.

King County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
2,287,171
Census ACS
Median income
$124,746
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
57%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
544
278,492 students

Quick facts

School name
Kent-Meridian High School
District
Kent School District
Address
10020 SE 256th ST, Kent, WA 98030
Phone
(253) 373-7405
County
King County
Level
High
Grade range
09–12
Total enrollment
1,639
Teachers (FTE)
78
Student–teacher ratio
21.0:1
Free and reduced lunch
1,130 (69%)
Locale
12-City: Mid-size
NCES ID
530396000621
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Kent School District
Other schools in Kent
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Kent-Meridian High School
How many students attend Kent-Meridian High School?
Kent-Meridian High School enrolls approximately 1,639 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Kent-Meridian High School serve?
Kent-Meridian High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Kent-Meridian High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Kent-Meridian High School is approximately 21.0:1 (78 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Kent-Meridian High School?
At Kent-Meridian High School, the student body is approximately 14% White, 40% Hispanic, 15% Black, 19% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Kent-Meridian High School public or private?
Kent-Meridian High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Kent School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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