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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Peninsula High School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,345
High
DISTRICT 953 · STATE 573
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENINSULA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530669000985
Peninsula High School
14105 Purdy Dr NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332 · (253) 530-4400 · Pierce County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL1,345 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
21.2:1
63 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.4:1 · STATE 21.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
351 students
DISTRICT 26% · 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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 355 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 345 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 325 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 320 | 24% |
Student demographics
46%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
70.6%
WA avg 58.4% . +57.3pp since 2014
Math
42.3%
WA avg 51.2% . +33.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 42 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 57 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 33 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 70.6% | 42.3% |
| 2023-24 | 66.5% | 38.2% |
| 2022-23 | 70.9% | 41.3% |
| 2021-22 | 72.1% | 38.4% |
| 2018-19 | 76.8% | 46.1% |
| 2017-18 | 78.1% | 46.0% |
| 2016-17 | 19.8% | 25.5% |
| 2015-16 | 42.4% | 32.9% |
| 2014-15 | 13.3% | 8.9% |
% 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
52.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.7%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 63% 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 →
Where Peninsula High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.1% | #65 of 271 | #10 of 32 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.3% | #66 of 321 | #5 of 32 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 70.6% | #74 of 327 | #9 of 33 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.2pp | #99 of 259 | #13 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,345 | #115 of 570 | #13 of 51 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.2:1 | #186 of 311 | #14 of 34 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.6% | #230 of 316 | #32 of 35 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.1% | #339 of 386 | #38 of 39 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.3% | #125 of 164 | #12 of 15 |
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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,345
-132 (-9%) vs 2020
+25% since 1990-91, when it was 1,078
Student : Teacher
21.2:1
was 22.7:1
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 | 1,345 | 63.5 | 21.2:1 | 26% (351) |
| 2023-24 | 1,395 | 65.2 | 21.4:1 | 29% (408) |
| 2022-23 | 1,372 | 64.3 | 21.4:1 | 28% (388) |
| 2020-21 | 1,477 | 65 | 22.7:1 | 21% (313) |
| 2017-18 | 1,406 | 63 | 22.3:1 | 33% (457) |
| 2015-16 | 1,424 | 58 | 24.6:1 | 31% (439) |
| 2010-11 | 1,383 | 61 | 22.7:1 | 19% (257) |
| 2000-01 | 1,459 | 62 | 23.5:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 1,078 | 51 | 21.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Peninsula High School.
About Peninsula High School
Peninsula High School is a high-enrollment high school in Gig Harbor, Washington, one of the schools in Peninsula School District. It reported 1,345 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. That compares with an average of about 573 students for high schools in Washington.
District-wide, Peninsula School District has 17 schools and 9,015 students.
Federal enrollment data show Peninsula High School is 72% White. Enrollment also includes 12% multiracial, 12% Hispanic, and 2% Asian. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 46%.
Peninsula High School has a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.2:1, with 63.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. It is about the same as the 21.6:1 average for high schools in Washington. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 26% at Peninsula High School. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Pierce County is 50%.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 52.1%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 62.7%.
In Pierce County, home to about 930,319 people, median household income comes to about $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Pierce County's 287 public schools enroll about 138,462 students and include Peninsula High School.
Purdy Elementary School, about 0.2 miles away, is the closest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 62.3%; Peninsula High School's is 52.1%, ranking 8th of 8.
Peninsula High School falls in the Suburb: Large locale category, used for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
A 9% decline took enrollment from 1,477 in 2020-21 to 1,345 in 2024-25. Federal data show the ratio falling from 22.7:1 to 21.2:1.
Use the discussion section to ask about special education services, counseling, and support programs at Peninsula High School. You can also rate the school on this page.
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
- Harbor Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Goodman Middle SchoolMiddle · 519 students
- Swift Water ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Kopachuck Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
- Purdy Elementary SchoolElementary · 483 students
Other schools in Gig Harbor
- Gig Harbor HighHigh · 1,375 students
- Harbor Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Goodman Middle SchoolMiddle · 519 students
- Swift Water ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Kopachuck Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
- Purdy Elementary SchoolElementary · 483 students
Nearby schools
- Purdy Elementary School0.2 mi · 483
- Swift Water Elementary2.4 mi · 519
- Minter Creek Elementary3.4 mi · 272
- Harbor Ridge Middle School3.5 mi · 627
- Pioneer Elementary School3.7 mi · 481
- Burley Glenwood Elementary3.8 mi · 452
Frequently asked questions
About Peninsula High SchoolHow large is Peninsula High School?
Peninsula High School enrolls approximately 1,345 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Peninsula High School serve?
Peninsula High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Peninsula High School have?
Peninsula High School employs 63 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.2:1.
How diverse is Peninsula High School?
Peninsula High School reports a student body of 72% White, 12% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Asian, 12% Two or more.
What district is Peninsula High School in?
Peninsula High School is part of Peninsula School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.