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What tradition at Washington High School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
989
High
DISTRICT 690 · STATE 573
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FRANKLIN PIERCE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530294000483
Washington High School
12420 Ainsworth Ave S, Tacoma, WA 98444 · (253) 298-4705 · Pierce County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL989 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 39% of Washington public high schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B+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 high schools
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
56 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.4:1 · STATE 21.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
69%
683 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 268 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 267 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 253 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 201 | 20% |
Student demographics
79%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
44.3%
WA avg 58.4% . -9.4pp since 2014
Math
13.8%
WA avg 51.2% . +0.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 44 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 9 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 44.3% | 13.8% |
| 2023-24 | 43.7% | 9.0% |
| 2022-23 | 44.5% | 12.8% |
| 2021-22 | 42.8% | 12.0% |
| 2018-19 | 63.5% | 23.5% |
| 2017-18 | 56.9% | 22.0% |
| 2016-17 | 3.1% | 17.6% |
| 2015-16 | 10.1% | 16.7% |
| 2014-15 | 53.7% | 13.4% |
% 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
32.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% 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 Washington High School
Washington High School's state test result (32.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington High School this school | 989 | 69.1% | 32.5% |
| Decatur High School FEDERAL WAY | 1,352 | 64.8% | 20.1% |
| Franklin Pierce High School TACOMA | 977 | 64.4% | 36.8% |
| General William H. Harrison Preparatory School Lakewood | 738 | 63.1% | 44.7% |
| Technology Access Foundation Academy at Saghalie Federal Way | 532 | 74.1% | 21.8% |
| Auburn Senior High School AUBURN | 1,918 | 63.2% | 29.5% |
Matched among Washington high 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 Washington High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.5% | #216 of 271 | #27 of 32 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 13.8% | #276 of 321 ▲ 31 | #27 of 32 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.3% | #259 of 327 ▲ 12 | #27 of 33 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.6pp | #91 of 259 | #12 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 989 | #151 of 570 | #19 of 51 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #51 of 311 | #4 of 34 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 78.5% | #11 of 316 | #6 of 35 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 69.1% | #63 of 386 | #8 of 39 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.4% | #133 of 136 | #17 of 17 |
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. 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
989
+15 (+2%) vs 2020
+10% since 1990-91, when it was 901
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 17.4:1
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 | 989 | 56.1 | 17.6:1 | 69% (683) |
| 2023-24 | 1,024 | 63.8 | 16.0:1 | 71% (725) |
| 2022-23 | 997 | 62.2 | 16.0:1 | 67% (671) |
| 2020-21 | 974 | 56 | 17.4:1 | 67% (648) |
| 2017-18 | 985 | 55 | 17.9:1 | 74% (728) |
| 2015-16 | 981 | 53 | 18.5:1 | 73% (721) |
| 2010-11 | 1,001 | 50 | 20.0:1 | 54% (542) |
| 2000-01 | 864 | 48 | 18.0:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 901 | 42 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Washington High School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (985 to 989); teachers up 2% (55 to 56.1).
About Washington High School
Washington High School is a public high school in Tacoma, Washington. A total of 989 students attend the school, which covers grades 9 through 12. The average for high schools in Washington is about 573 students, so this school is 73% above average.
Franklin Pierce School District has a total of 14 schools and 7,187 students, Washington High School among them.
At Washington High School, the largest share of students is Hispanic, at 33%. The remaining shares are 23% White, 15% multiracial, 12% Black, and 9% Pacific Islander. Pierce County as a whole is about 13% Hispanic, so the school's share is higher. Washington High School's diversity index is 79%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teacher staffing is 56.1 full-time equivalents, or about 17.6 students per teacher. This ratio sits 3.9 below the 21.6:1 average for high schools in Washington. Eligibility for subsidized school meals is 69%. It compares with 50% for public schools in Pierce County.
Washington High School is graded C+ by allk12, scoring above 39% of Washington public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Washington High School is 1.4 points below its prediction. Actual: 32.5%. Predicted: 33.9%.
In the county around the school, Pierce County, the median household income is $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of people live in poverty. There are 287 public schools in Pierce County, enrolling about 138,462 students in all.
The nearest other public school, Perry G Keithley Middle School, is about 0.2 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Washington High School places 4th out of 7 schools in its immediate area.
Locale data from NCES put Washington High School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 989, close to the 974 recorded in 2020-21.
To ask about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs, start a discussion on this page. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
- Morris Ford Middle SchoolMiddle · 831 students
- Perry G Keithley Middle SchoolMiddle · 804 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
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
- Fife High SchoolHigh · 885 students
Other Washington High schools
17 other US public schools in 13 states are named Washington High. Washington High School is the 9th largest of the 18.
- Washington HighFremont, CA · 1,957 students
- Washington High School - 01Sioux Falls, SD · 1,819 students
- Washington High SchoolPHOENIX, AZ · 1,659 students
- Washington High SchoolCharles Town, WV · 1,458 students
- Washington High SchoolWashington, MO · 1,263 students
Nearby schools
- Perry G Keithley Middle School0.2 mi · 804
- James Sales Elementary0.8 mi · 387
- Brookdale Elementary0.8 mi · 483
- Hewins Early Learning Center1.1 mi · 266
- Christensen Elementary1.4 mi · 346
- Elmhurst Elementary School1.6 mi · 335
Frequently asked questions
About Washington High SchoolHow large is Washington High School?
Washington High School enrolls approximately 989 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Washington High School serve?
Washington High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Washington High School?
Approximately 17.6:1 students per teacher at Washington High School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Washington High School?
At Washington High School, the student body is approximately 23% White, 33% Hispanic, 12% Black, 7% Asian, 15% Two or more.
What district is Washington High School in?
Washington High School is part of Franklin Pierce School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.