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How has Meridian Elementary School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
390
Elementary
DISTRICT 397 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·KENT SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530396000625
Meridian Elementary School
25621 140th Ave SE, Kent, WA 98042 · (253) 373-7664 · King County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL390 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
158 students
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 27 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 59 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 68 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 69 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (58) is 16% smaller than its 5th grade class (69).
Student demographics
76%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 79% · 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
56.6%
WA avg 58.4% . +2.4pp since 2014
Math
50.5%
WA avg 51.2% . -2.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 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 2 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 56.6% | 50.5% |
| 2023-24 | 63.3% | 56.3% |
| 2022-23 | 47.3% | 42.7% |
| 2021-22 | 40.6% | 36.8% |
| 2018-19 | 54.3% | 51.8% |
| 2017-18 | 55.4% | 56.7% |
| 2016-17 | 56.5% | 57.3% |
| 2015-16 | 54.5% | 55.5% |
| 2014-15 | 54.2% | 53.5% |
% 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
56.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
53.0%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% 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 Meridian Elementary School
Meridian Elementary School's state test result (56.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian Elementary School this school | 390 | 40.5% | 56.1% |
| Ridgecrest Elementary Shoreline | 424 | 38.0% | 53.9% |
| Bowman Creek Elementary Auburn | 440 | 35.0% | 55.6% |
| Crestwood Elementary School Covington | 386 | 38.9% | 56.0% |
| Briarcrest Elementary Shoreline | 454 | 35.9% | 64.7% |
| Cedar Valley Elementary School Covington | 318 | 42.8% | 35.9% |
Matched among Washington elementary 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 Meridian Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In King County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.1% | #320 of 936 | #142 of 280 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.5% | #439 of 1,103 ▼ 123 | #163 of 281 ▼ 19 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.6% | #372 of 1,102 ▼ 119 | #143 of 280 ▼ 17 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +14.9pp | #27 of 928 | #10 of 274 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 390 | #673 of 1,268 | #189 of 299 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #512 of 1,085 | #120 of 280 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 75.7% | #124 of 1,088 | #72 of 281 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.5% | #793 of 1,169 | #133 of 292 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -33.8% | #75 of 778 | #31 of 220 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
390
-108 (-22%) vs 2020
-33% since 1990-91, when it was 582
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 15.1:1
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 | 390 | 24.9 | 15.7:1 | 41% (158) |
| 2023-24 | 412 | 28.2 | 14.6:1 | 41% (168) |
| 2022-23 | 555 | 33.1 | 16.8:1 | 52% (287) |
| 2020-21 | 498 | 33 | 15.1:1 | 45% (224) |
| 2017-18 | 589 | 37.9 | 15.5:1 | 46% (271) |
| 2015-16 | 634 | 37 | 17.1:1 | 48% (305) |
| 2010-11 | 584 | 30 | 19.5:1 | 34% (199) |
| 2000-01 | 614 | 30 | 20.5:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 582 | 27 | 21.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Meridian Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 34% (589 to 390); teachers down 34% (37.9 to 24.9).
About Meridian Elementary School
Meridian Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school serving families in Kent, Washington. Its 390 students are spread across pre-K through 5.
The 44 schools in Kent School District enroll 25,358 students altogether, Meridian Elementary School among them.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at Meridian Elementary School is White (38%). Other students are 21% Hispanic, 18% Asian, 11% multiracial, and 9% Black. That is lower than the 55% White share among all King County residents. Meridian Elementary School has a diversity index of 76%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Meridian Elementary School operates with 24.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 15.7:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Washington average 17.3:1. About 41% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 53.0% at Meridian Elementary School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 56.1%.
County data help place the school in context: in King County, median household income is about $124,746, roughly 57% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. The public schools of King County number 544 and enroll about 278,492.
The closest other public school is Martin Sortun Elementary School, about 0.9 miles away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Meridian Elementary School is 1st of 8 on proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Meridian Elementary School as City: Mid-size.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 390 was 22% lower than in 2020-21, when it was 498.
If you have questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Meridian Elementary School, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
King County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
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
Related schools
Other schools in Kent School District
- Kentridge High SchoolHigh · 2,186 students
- Kentwood High SchoolHigh · 1,995 students
- Kent-Meridian High SchoolHigh · 1,639 students
- Kentlake High SchoolHigh · 1,561 students
- Northwood Middle SchoolMiddle · 911 students
- Cedar Heights Middle SchoolMiddle · 876 students
Other schools in Kent
- Kentridge High SchoolHigh · 2,186 students
- Kent-Meridian High SchoolHigh · 1,639 students
- Kentlake High SchoolHigh · 1,561 students
- Mill Creek Middle SchoolMiddle · 866 students
- Canyon Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 821 students
- Evergreen Middle SchoolMiddle · 810 students
Other Meridian Elementary schools
10 other US public schools in 8 states are named Meridian Elementary. Meridian Elementary School is the 6th largest of the 11.
- Meridian ElementaryEl Cajon, CA · 570 students
- Meridian Elementary SchoolSANFORD, MI · 537 students
- Meridian Elementary SchoolBROOMFIELD, CO · 525 students
- MERIDIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLMERIDIAN, ID · 468 students
- Meridian Elementary SchoolBlue Mound, IL · 460 students
Nearby schools
- Martin Sortun Elementary School0.9 mi · 450
- Covington Elementary School1.0 mi · 456
- Horizon Elementary School1.3 mi · 408
- Millennium Elementary School1.5 mi · 482
- Mattson Middle School1.6 mi · 719
- Kentwood High School1.7 mi · 1,995
Frequently asked questions
About Meridian Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Meridian Elementary School?
Meridian Elementary School enrolls approximately 390 students in grades PK-05.
Is Meridian Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Meridian Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Meridian Elementary School?
Approximately 15.7:1 students per teacher at Meridian Elementary School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Meridian Elementary School?
At Meridian Elementary School, the student body is approximately 38% White, 21% Hispanic, 9% Black, 18% Asian, 11% Two or more.
What district is Meridian Elementary School in?
Meridian Elementary School is part of Kent School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.