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What advice would you give to incoming students at Key Peninsula Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
444
Middle
DISTRICT 527 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENINSULA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530669001863
Key Peninsula Middle School
5510 Key Peninsula Hwy N, Lakebay, WA 98349 · (253) 530-4200 · Pierce County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL444 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 31% of Washington public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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
18.2:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.6:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
186 students
DISTRICT 26% · 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 6 | 145 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 139 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 160 | 36% |
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
42.7%
WA avg 58.4% . +0.7pp since 2014
Math
33.3%
WA avg 51.2% . -4.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2014, while math scores are down about 4 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 42.7% | 33.3% |
| 2023-24 | 50.1% | 31.5% |
| 2022-23 | 45.4% | 31.6% |
| 2021-22 | 43.0% | 32.5% |
| 2018-19 | 59.6% | 52.8% |
| 2017-18 | 60.7% | 52.4% |
| 2016-17 | 58.3% | 56.4% |
| 2015-16 | 58.6% | 54.9% |
| 2014-15 | 42.0% | 37.6% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
40.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 52% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Key Peninsula Middle School
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Peninsula Middle School this school | 444 | 41.9% | 40.1% |
| Enumclaw Middle School Enumclaw | 522 | 38.1% | 50.5% |
| Daybreak Middle Battle Ground | 480 | 46.3% | N/A |
| Tukes Valley Middle School Battle Ground | 449 | 43.2% | N/A |
| Eatonville Middle School Eatonville | 425 | 46.4% | 30.6% |
| Jemtegaard Middle School Washougal | 408 | 47.5% | 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 Key Peninsula Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.1% | #149 of 294 | #24 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.3% | #183 of 357 ▲ 7 | #24 of 45 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.7% | #216 of 357 ▼ 67 | #30 of 45 ▼ 9 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.2pp | #196 of 290 | #33 of 45 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 444 | #278 of 377 | #41 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.2:1 | #107 of 340 | #8 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.7% | #251 of 340 | #39 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.9% | #240 of 359 | #34 of 45 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.7% | #135 of 192 | #16 of 23 |
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
444
+15 (+3%) vs 2020
-19% since 1990-91, when it was 546
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
was 17.2:1
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 | 444 | 24.5 | 18.2:1 | 42% (186) |
| 2023-24 | 462 | 25.2 | 18.3:1 | 43% (198) |
| 2022-23 | 469 | 25.5 | 18.4:1 | 42% (198) |
| 2020-21 | 429 | 25 | 17.2:1 | 43% (185) |
| 2017-18 | 476 | 24.6 | 19.4:1 | 47% (226) |
| 2015-16 | 373 | 20 | 18.6:1 | 51% (192) |
| 2010-11 | 490 | 24 | 20.4:1 | 44% (214) |
| 2000-01 | 505 | 24 | 21.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 546 | 23 | 23.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Key Peninsula Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (476 to 444); teachers down 1% (24.6 to 24.5).
About Key Peninsula Middle School
Key Peninsula Middle School sits in Lakebay, Washington, and is classified as a middle school. The grade span is 6 through 8, and enrollment is 444 students. Average enrollment for middle schools in Washington is about 577, so this school runs 23% smaller than that.
Key Peninsula Middle School is part of Peninsula School District, where 17 schools serve 9,015 students.
Key Peninsula Middle School is 70% White by enrollment. Other reported shares: 14% Hispanic and 12% multiracial. The school's diversity index is 47%, meaning two students picked at random have a 47% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The teaching staff at Key Peninsula Middle School is 24.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 18.2:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 18.9:1 average for middle schools in Washington. About 42% of students, or 186, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Pierce County is 50%.
The allk12 Grade for Key Peninsula Middle School is C. Compared with Washington public middle schools, the school scored higher than 31% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Compared with Washington schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Key Peninsula Middle School scores 11.9 points lower than predicted. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 40.1%; the prediction is 52.1%.
Pierce County census figures show that the median household income is $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 287 public schools in Pierce County, enrolling about 138,462 students in all.
The nearest other public school, Vaughn Elementary School, is about 2.6 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are 4 other public schools. On average proficiency, Key Peninsula Middle School is 9th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
The NCES locale for Key Peninsula Middle School is Rural: Fringe, which covers schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
Enrollment at Key Peninsula Middle School grew 3% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 429 to 444 students. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 17.2:1; by 2024-25 it was 18.2:1.
Conversations here can range across school safety, transportation, and start times. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 Peninsula School District
- Gig Harbor HighHigh · 1,375 students
- Peninsula High SchoolHigh · 1,345 students
- Harbor Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Goodman Middle SchoolMiddle · 519 students
- Swift Water ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Kopachuck Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
Nearby schools
- Vaughn Elementary School2.6 mi · 326
- Voyager Elementary3.8 mi · 443
- Kopachuck Middle School3.8 mi · 516
- Evergreen Elementary4.7 mi · 336
- Minter Creek Elementary5.4 mi · 272
- Artondale Elementary School6.5 mi · 413
Frequently asked questions
About Key Peninsula Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Key Peninsula Middle School?
Key Peninsula Middle School enrolls approximately 444 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Key Peninsula Middle School serve?
Key Peninsula Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Key Peninsula Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Key Peninsula Middle School is approximately 18.2:1 (24 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Key Peninsula Middle School?
At Key Peninsula Middle School, the student body is approximately 70% White, 14% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Who oversees Key Peninsula Middle School?
Key Peninsula Middle School is overseen by Peninsula School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.