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What advice would you give to incoming students at Perry G Keithley Middle School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
804
Middle
DISTRICT 818 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FRANKLIN PIERCE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530294000481
Perry G Keithley Middle School
12324 12TH AVE S, TACOMA, WA 98444 · (253) 298-4307 · Pierce County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL804 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 1% of Washington public middle schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-Three-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
17.9:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.0:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
69%
553 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 282 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 268 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 254 | 32% |
Student demographics
78%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 77% · 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
23.5%
WA avg 58.4% . -21.6pp since 2014
Math
14.2%
WA avg 51.2% . -20.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 24 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 14 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 22 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 20 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 23.5% | 14.2% |
| 2023-24 | 23.5% | 10.8% |
| 2022-23 | 25.4% | 10.1% |
| 2021-22 | 28.4% | 10.8% |
| 2018-19 | 38.3% | 22.0% |
| 2017-18 | 36.7% | 23.0% |
| 2016-17 | 42.9% | 30.0% |
| 2015-16 | 39.3% | 28.7% |
| 2014-15 | 45.1% | 34.5% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
17.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% 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 Perry G Keithley Middle School
Perry G Keithley Middle School's state test result (17.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perry G Keithley Middle School this school | 804 | 68.8% | 17.5% |
| Spanaway Middle School Tacoma | 766 | 67.8% | 41.5% |
| Morris Ford Middle School Tacoma | 831 | 64.6% | 30.3% |
| Thomas Middle School Lakewood | 934 | 63.6% | 30.9% |
| Cascade Middle School AUBURN | 966 | 65.2% | 27.9% |
| Cedarcrest Middle School Spanaway | 765 | 62.6% | 28.2% |
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 Perry G Keithley Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 17.5% | #282 of 294 | #44 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.2% | #334 of 357 ▲ 13 | #42 of 45 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.5% | #336 of 357 ▲ 1 | #43 of 45 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.8pp | #75 of 290 | #8 of 45 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 804 | #72 of 377 | #10 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.9:1 | #92 of 340 | #6 of 44 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 78.2% | #13 of 340 | #7 of 44 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 68.8% | #68 of 359 | #8 of 45 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +1.5% | #114 of 130 | #17 of 19 |
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
804
-35 (-4%) vs 2020
+22% since 1990-91, when it was 658
Student : Teacher
17.9:1
was 18.6:1
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 | 804 | 45 | 17.9:1 | 69% (553) |
| 2023-24 | 771 | 45 | 17.1:1 | 76% (589) |
| 2022-23 | 787 | 44 | 17.9:1 | 68% (539) |
| 2020-21 | 839 | 45 | 18.6:1 | 73% (616) |
| 2017-18 | 792 | 46.4 | 17.1:1 | 76% (604) |
| 2015-16 | 737 | 44 | 16.8:1 | 82% (605) |
| 2010-11 | 774 | 48 | 16.1:1 | 65% (501) |
| 2000-01 | 839 | 46 | 18.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 658 | 35 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Perry G Keithley Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (792 to 804); teachers down 3% (46.4 to 45).
About Perry G Keithley Middle School
Perry G Keithley Middle School is a mid-sized middle school found in TACOMA, Washington. It reports enrollment of 804 students in grades 6 through 8. On average, middle schools in Washington enroll around 577, and this school is 39% above that mark.
Franklin Pierce School District has 14 schools; together they serve 7,187 students.
The largest racial or ethnic group at Perry G Keithley Middle School is Hispanic, with 33% of students. Other groups make up 24% White, 16% multiracial, 11% Black, and 10% Pacific Islander. Pierce County as a whole is about 13% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 78%.
Its staff includes 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 17.9 students per teacher. The gap from the 18.9:1 average for middle schools in Washington is 1.0 students per teacher. Roughly 69% of students at Perry G Keithley Middle School can receive free or reduced-price lunch. Among public schools in Pierce County, the average eligibility rate is 50%.
On the allk12 Grade, Perry G Keithley Middle School lands at F, ahead of 1% of Washington public middle schools.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results, 17.5%, is 16.5 points below the 34.1% the model predicts from its free or reduced-price lunch share. That result is in the bottom 10% of Washington schools.
For the population of Pierce County, median household income comes to about $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Pierce County's 287 public schools enroll about 138,462 students and include Perry G Keithley Middle School.
Perry G Keithley Middle School's closest public school neighbor is Washington High School, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, Perry G Keithley Middle School ranks 8th on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put Perry G Keithley Middle School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment fell from 839 to 804, a 4% decrease.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Franklin Pierce School District
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 989 students
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
- Morris Ford Middle SchoolMiddle · 831 students
- Brookdale ElementaryElementary · 483 students
- Collins ElementaryElementary · 466 students
- Harvard ElementaryElementary · 445 students
Other schools in TACOMA
- Stadium High SchoolHigh · 1,700 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,556 students
- Mount Tahoma High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Dr. Dolores Silas High SchoolHigh · 1,160 students
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 989 students
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
Nearby schools
- Washington High School0.2 mi · 989
- James Sales Elementary0.7 mi · 387
- Brookdale Elementary0.7 mi · 483
- Hewins Early Learning Center1.0 mi · 266
- Christensen Elementary1.3 mi · 346
- Elmhurst Elementary School1.5 mi · 335
Frequently asked questions
About Perry G Keithley Middle SchoolHow large is Perry G Keithley Middle School?
Perry G Keithley Middle School enrolls approximately 804 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Perry G Keithley Middle School serve?
Perry G Keithley Middle School serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Perry G Keithley Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Perry G Keithley Middle School is approximately 17.9:1 (45 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Perry G Keithley Middle School?
At Perry G Keithley Middle School, the student body is approximately 24% White, 33% Hispanic, 11% Black, 5% Asian, 16% Two or more.
Is Perry G Keithley Middle School public or private?
Perry G Keithley Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Franklin Pierce School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.