Mount Rainier High School

As a substantial 9-12 campus in Des Moines, Washington, Mount Rainier High School serves 1,846 students from grades 9 through 12, operated by Highline School District. Compared to the state average of about 573 students per school, that is 222% larger than typical.

Mount Rainier High School is one of 36 schools operated by Highline School District, a district that enrolls 18,072 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Mount Rainier High School lists that 35% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 23% White, 16% Black, 12% Asian, 9% multiracial. By comparison, King County as a whole is about 11% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, The school currently runs with 77 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 24.0:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 21.6:1 average. About 59% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against King County (around 38%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Mount Rainier High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 40.7%, the actual is 32.3%, a residual of -8.5 points.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for King County put median household income runs about $124,746, roughly 57% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Mount Rainier High School is one of 544 public schools in King County (combined enrollment of about 278,492 students).

The closest other public school is Midway Elementary, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Mount Rainier High School ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 23.8%.

The school occupies a suburban site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 14%: 1,626 students in 2018 compared to 1,846 in 2025. The White share of enrollment ticked down from 32% to 23% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 22.8:1 in 2018 to 24.0:1 today.

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