1
Which teacher or staff member at Sylvester Middle School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
582
Middle
DISTRICT 656 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HIGHLINE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530354000554
Sylvester Middle School
16222 Sylvester Road SW, Burien, WA 98166 · (206) 631-6000 · King County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL582 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.3:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.0:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
49%
288 students
DISTRICT 65% · 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 | 231 | 40% |
| Grade 7 | 181 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 170 | 29% |
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
41.0%
WA avg 58.4% . -4.3pp since 2014
Math
30.9%
WA avg 51.2% . -14.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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 4 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 14 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.0% | 30.9% |
| 2023-24 | 36.5% | 25.8% |
| 2022-23 | 41.5% | 27.8% |
| 2021-22 | 43.2% | 27.0% |
| 2018-19 | 45.9% | 32.8% |
| 2017-18 | 42.7% | 34.7% |
| 2016-17 | 44.2% | 35.6% |
| 2015-16 | 46.0% | 40.5% |
| 2014-15 | 45.3% | 45.0% |
% 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
35.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.0%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 47% 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 Sylvester Middle School
Sylvester Middle School's state test result (35.2% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvester Middle School this school | 582 | 49.5% | 35.2% |
| Komachin Middle School Lacey | 640 | 48.8% | 42.2% |
| College Place Middle School LYNNWOOD | 479 | 47.8% | 39.0% |
| Surprise Lake Middle School Milton | 613 | 55.5% | 33.6% |
| Salish Middle School Lacey | 745 | 48.3% | 35.4% |
| Chinook Middle School Lacey | 746 | 55.5% | 38.8% |
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 Sylvester Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In King County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.2% | #187 of 294 | #54 of 76 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.9% | #202 of 357 ▲ 40 | #55 of 76 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.0% | #237 of 357 ▲ 25 | #57 of 76 ▲ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.9pp | #179 of 290 | #50 of 75 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 582 | #206 of 377 | #63 of 80 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.3:1 | #177 of 340 | #30 of 76 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.0% | #57 of 340 | #31 of 76 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 49.5% | #188 of 359 | #29 of 77 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -11.8% | #92 of 192 | #19 of 37 |
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
582
-117 (-17%) vs 2020
-8% since 1990-91, when it was 630
Student : Teacher
19.3:1
was 21.2:1
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 | 582 | 30.1 | 19.3:1 | 49% (288) |
| 2023-24 | 548 | 29.1 | 18.9:1 | 52% (283) |
| 2022-23 | 619 | 34.9 | 17.7:1 | 51% (315) |
| 2020-21 | 699 | 33 | 21.2:1 | 48% (337) |
| 2017-18 | 660 | 40.6 | 16.3:1 | 72% (473) |
| 2015-16 | 693 | 39 | 17.8:1 | 72% (499) |
| 2010-11 | 678 | 35 | 19.4:1 | 58% (392) |
| 2000-01 | 662 | 31 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 630 | 28 | 22.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sylvester Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 12% (660 to 582); teachers down 26% (40.6 to 30.1).
About Sylvester Middle School
In Burien, Washington, Sylvester Middle School is a medium-sized middle school. Its 582 students are spread across grades 6 through 8.
In Highline School District, 36 schools enroll a combined 18,072 students.
Enrollment at Sylvester Middle School is mixed, with White students the largest group at 37%. It is also 32% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 8% Black, and 8% Asian. For comparison, the population of King County is roughly 55% White. By the diversity index, Sylvester Middle School comes in at 73%.
Teacher staffing is 30.1 full-time equivalents, or about 19.3 students per teacher. Across middle schools in Washington, the average ratio is about 18.9:1. About 49% of students, or 288, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in King County is 38%.
A school in Washington with Sylvester Middle School's free or reduced-price lunch share would be expected to score about 47.0%. Sylvester Middle School scores 35.2%.
According to the American Community Survey, in King County, median household income is about $124,746, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 57% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Sylvester Middle School is one of 544 public schools in King County, which together enroll about 278,492 students.
The nearest other public school, Gregory Heights Elementary, is about 0.7 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Sylvester Middle School. Among the 5 closest schools with test data, this one included, Sylvester Middle School ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
Sylvester Middle School is coded as Suburb: Large in federal locale data.
Sylvester Middle School had 699 students in 2020-21 and 582 in 2024-25, a 17% decrease. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 21.2:1 to 19.3:1.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Sylvester Middle School covering things like enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. 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 Highline School District
- Mount Rainier High SchoolHigh · 1,846 students
- Highline High SchoolHigh · 1,423 students
- Evergreen High SchoolHigh · 1,080 students
- Glacier Middle SchoolMiddle · 803 students
- Cascade Middle SchoolMiddle · 671 students
- Tyee High SchoolHigh · 644 students
Other schools in Burien
- Highline High SchoolHigh · 1,423 students
- Gregory Heights ElementaryElementary · 488 students
- Hazel Valley ElementaryElementary · 469 students
- Seahurst Elementary SchoolElementary · 405 students
- Shorewood ElementaryElementary · 400 students
- Cedarhurst ElementaryElementary · 399 students
Nearby schools
- Gregory Heights Elementary0.7 mi · 488
- Highline High School0.8 mi · 1,423
- Seahurst Elementary School1.1 mi · 405
- Puget Sound Skills Center1.4 mi · 3
- Big Picture School1.5 mi · 233
- Highline Home School Center1.5 mi · 10
Frequently asked questions
About Sylvester Middle SchoolHow many students attend Sylvester Middle School?
Sylvester Middle School enrolls approximately 582 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Sylvester Middle School serve?
Sylvester Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Sylvester Middle School?
Approximately 19.3:1 students per teacher at Sylvester Middle School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sylvester Middle School?
At Sylvester Middle School, the student body is approximately 37% White, 32% Hispanic, 8% Black, 8% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Sylvester Middle School?
Sylvester Middle School is overseen by Highline School District in King County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.