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Does Vista Middle School have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
550
Middle
DISTRICT 492 · STATE 577
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FERNDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530285000463
Vista Middle School
6051 Vista Drive, Ferndale, WA 98248 · (360) 383-9370 · Whatcom County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL550 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.1:1 · STATE 18.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
56%
306 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 194 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 178 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 178 | 32% |
Student demographics
67%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
49.0%
WA avg 58.4% . +5.2pp since 2014
Math
35.0%
WA avg 51.2% . -0.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 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 5 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.0% | 35.0% |
| 2023-24 | 49.9% | 39.1% |
| 2022-23 | 54.2% | 37.4% |
| 2021-22 | 55.4% | 35.0% |
| 2018-19 | 57.7% | 38.4% |
| 2017-18 | 54.2% | 40.6% |
| 2016-17 | 56.0% | 39.8% |
| 2015-16 | 52.0% | 44.6% |
| 2014-15 | 43.8% | 35.5% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
43.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% 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 Vista Middle School
Vista Middle School's state test result (43.3% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vista Middle School this school | 550 | 55.6% | 43.3% |
| Shuksan Middle School Bellingham | 606 | 52.1% | 35.1% |
| Horizon Middle School Ferndale | 433 | 55.4% | 35.1% |
| Marcus Whitman Middle School PORT ORCHARD | 623 | 59.9% | 32.1% |
| Sultan Middle School Sultan | 462 | 52.8% | 41.7% |
| Fairview Middle School BREMERTON | 620 | 50.5% | 37.3% |
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 Vista Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Whatcom County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.3% | #127 of 294 | #4 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #169 of 357 ▼ 42 | #6 of 11 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #162 of 357 ▼ 11 | #5 of 11 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.2pp | #37 of 290 | #1 of 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 550 | #223 of 377 | #6 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #50 of 340 | #4 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.9% | #106 of 340 | #1 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 55.6% | #146 of 359 | #3 of 11 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.9% | #116 of 192 | #3 of 8 |
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
550
+3 (+1%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 641
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 17.6:1
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 | 550 | 32.1 | 17.1:1 | 56% (306) |
| 2023-24 | 536 | 34.3 | 15.6:1 | 58% (312) |
| 2022-23 | 572 | 35.1 | 16.3:1 | 60% (345) |
| 2020-21 | 547 | 31 | 17.6:1 | 46% (251) |
| 2017-18 | 604 | 32.7 | 18.5:1 | 48% (288) |
| 2015-16 | 622 | 32 | 19.4:1 | 46% (289) |
| 2010-11 | 418 | 20 | 20.9:1 | 43% (180) |
| 2000-01 | 425 | 41 | 10.4:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 641 | 30 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vista Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (604 to 550); teachers down 2% (32.7 to 32.1).
About Vista Middle School
At 6051 Vista Drive in Ferndale, Washington, Vista Middle School operates as a medium-sized middle school. Enrolled students number 550 students, in grades 6 through 8.
Ferndale School District enrolls 4,746 students in 13 schools, including Vista Middle School.
By race and ethnicity, Vista Middle School is 50% White. The school is also 25% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, 6% Native American, and 6% Asian. That is lower than the 78% White share among all Whatcom County residents. By the diversity index, Vista Middle School comes in at 67%.
Federal data list 32.1 full-time-equivalent teachers at Vista Middle School in 2024-25, for a ratio of 17.1:1. The average ratio among middle schools in Washington is 18.9:1, higher than at this school. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 56%. For comparison, public schools in Whatcom County average 47%.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 42.9% at Vista Middle School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 43.3%.
Whatcom County has these Census figures: median household income is about $81,784, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Vista Middle School is among the 78 public schools in Whatcom County.
The nearest public school is Ferndale Special Services, at less than a tenth of a mile. Vista Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. The nearest schools with test data average 36.7%, lower than Vista Middle School's 43.3%.
Vista Middle School is coded as Suburb: Mid-size in federal locale data.
Enrollment has been fairly stable: 547 in 2020-21 and 550 in 2024-25.
The Vista Middle School community page is open for posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Whatcom County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,503
Census ACS
Median income
$81,784
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
78
27,779 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Ferndale School District
- Ferndale High SchoolHigh · 1,325 students
- Skyline Elementary SchoolElementary · 496 students
- Eagleridge ElementaryElementary · 457 students
- Cascadia ElementaryElementary · 440 students
- Horizon Middle SchoolMiddle · 433 students
- Custer ElemElementary · 392 students
Other schools in Ferndale
- Ferndale High SchoolHigh · 1,325 students
- Skyline Elementary SchoolElementary · 496 students
- Eagleridge ElementaryElementary · 457 students
- Cascadia ElementaryElementary · 440 students
- Horizon Middle SchoolMiddle · 433 students
- Central ElementaryElementary · 315 students
Other Vista Middle schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Vista Middle. Vista Middle School is the 3rd largest of the 3.
- Vista MiddlePanorama City, CA · 1,080 students
- VISTA MIDDLELAS CRUCES, NM · 574 students
Nearby schools
- Ferndale Special Services0.1 mi · 20
- Ferndale Re-Engagement0.1 mi · 33
- Skyline Elementary School0.2 mi · 496
- Mountain View Elementary0.6 mi · 101
- Ferndale Virtual Academy0.7 mi · 154
- Ferndale High School0.7 mi · 1,325
Frequently asked questions
About Vista Middle SchoolHow large is Vista Middle School?
Vista Middle School enrolls approximately 550 students in grades 06-08.
Is Vista Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Vista Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Vista Middle School have?
Vista Middle School employs 32 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.1:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Vista Middle School?
At Vista Middle School, the student body is approximately 50% White, 25% Hispanic, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Is Vista Middle School public or private?
Vista Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Ferndale School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.