1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Vera Risdon Middle School right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
751
Middle
DISTRICT 770 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530723003603
Vera Risdon Middle School
6928 116th Ave SE, Newcastle, WA 98056 · (425) 204-2700 · King County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL751 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
21.8:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.6:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
39%
295 students
DISTRICT 52% · 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 | 254 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 251 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 246 | 33% |
Student demographics
76%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · 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
57.1%
WA avg 58.4% . +2.4pp since 2017
Math
46.9%
WA avg 51.2% . -3.3pp since 2017
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 47 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 2017, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 57.1% | 46.9% |
| 2023-24 | 54.0% | 46.9% |
| 2022-23 | 48.6% | 40.9% |
| 2021-22 | 48.9% | 37.3% |
| 2018-19 | 59.8% | 52.8% |
| 2017-18 | 54.8% | 50.2% |
% 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
49.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
53.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 50% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 54% 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 Vera Risdon Middle School
Vera Risdon Middle School's state test result (49.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vera Risdon Middle School this school | 751 | 39.3% | 49.9% |
| Northwood Middle School Renton | 911 | 34.7% | 48.2% |
| Mattson Middle School Covington | 719 | 46.0% | 38.9% |
| McKnight Middle School Renton | 811 | 49.0% | 41.6% |
| Harbour Pointe Middle School Mukilteo | 803 | 35.2% | 55.8% |
| Heatherwood Middle School Mill Creek | 1,031 | 31.8% | 66.5% |
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 Vera Risdon Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In King County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.9% | #95 of 294 | #44 of 76 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.9% | #95 of 357 ▼ 10 | #43 of 76 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.1% | #108 of 357 ▲ 11 | #43 of 76 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +8.9pp | #27 of 290 | #8 of 75 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 751 | #101 of 377 | #38 of 80 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.8:1 | #299 of 340 | #63 of 76 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 76.4% | #29 of 340 | #18 of 76 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 39.3% | #251 of 359 | #34 of 77 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.2% | #124 of 192 | #24 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
751
-160 (-18%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
21.8:1
was 22.2:1
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 | 751 | 34.4 | 21.8:1 | 39% (295) |
| 2023-24 | 761 | 35.6 | 21.4:1 | 39% (295) |
| 2022-23 | 780 | 37.4 | 20.9:1 | 44% (344) |
| 2020-21 | 911 | 41 | 22.2:1 | 37% (337) |
| 2017-18 | 818 | 38 | 21.5:1 | 40% (325) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vera Risdon Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (818 to 751); teachers down 9% (38 to 34.4).
About Vera Risdon Middle School
Families in Newcastle, Washington, are served by Vera Risdon Middle School, a medium-sized middle-grades school. A federal count lists 751 students at the school, in grades 6 through 8. Average enrollment for middle schools in Washington is about 577, so this school runs 30% bigger than that.
Vera Risdon Middle School is one of the 29 schools that make up Renton School District (14,873 students in total).
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Vera Risdon Middle School. The largest is Asian students, at 28%. The remaining students are 27% Hispanic, 25% White, 12% multiracial, and 7% Black. Vera Risdon Middle School's diversity index is 76%, against a US figure of 70%.
The teaching staff at Vera Risdon Middle School is 34.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 21.8:1. This ratio sits 2.9 above the 18.9:1 average for middle schools in Washington. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 39%. For comparison, public schools in King County average 38%.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Vera Risdon Middle School would score about 53.9%. It scores 49.9%, 4.0 points below that figure.
Recent Census Bureau figures for King County show that the median household income is $124,746, roughly 57% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Vera Risdon Middle School is one of 544 public schools in the county.
The shortest distance from Vera Risdon Middle School to another public school is about 0.2 miles, to Hazelwood Elementary School. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, Vera Risdon Middle School is 8th among 9 schools close by.
The federal government classifies Vera Risdon Middle School's location as Suburb: Large.
Enrollment dropped 18% from its 2020-21 level of 911.
Topics for discussion here include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Renton School District
- Hazen Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,796 students
- Renton Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,208 students
- Lindbergh Senior High SchoolHigh · 1,201 students
- Nelsen Middle SchoolMiddle · 913 students
- McKnight Middle SchoolMiddle · 811 students
- Dimmitt Middle SchoolMiddle · 605 students
Other schools in Newcastle
- Hazelwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 478 students
- Newcastle Elementary SchoolElementary · 451 students
Nearby schools
- Hazelwood Elementary School0.2 mi · 478
- Newport Heights Elementary1.0 mi · 549
- Newcastle Elementary School1.5 mi · 451
- Kennydale Elementary School1.7 mi · 511
- Newport Senior High School1.9 mi · 1,850
- Island Park Elementary2.0 mi · 364
Frequently asked questions
About Vera Risdon Middle SchoolHow large is Vera Risdon Middle School?
Vera Risdon Middle School enrolls approximately 751 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Vera Risdon Middle School serve?
Vera Risdon Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Vera Risdon Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Vera Risdon Middle School is approximately 21.8:1 (34 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Vera Risdon Middle School?
At Vera Risdon Middle School, the student body is approximately 25% White, 27% Hispanic, 7% Black, 28% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is Vera Risdon Middle School public or private?
Vera Risdon Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Renton School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.