Original Research by School Decision on Everett High School
Everett High School sits in the city’s downtown and serves around sixteen hundred students in grades nine through twelve as one of the district’s three comprehensive high schools. The school draws from a city that is both a major employment hub and a bedroom community for Seattle, with Boeing, the U.S. Navy’s Naval Station Everett, and the Port of Everett anchoring the local economy. Downtown Everett has a compact core with high-rise buildings clustered around Everett Station, which connects the city to Seattle via Sounder commuter trains, Amtrak, and buses. Entertainment venues such as Angel of the Winds Arena and Funko Field contribute to localized street activity. The city has seen steady population growth and has annexed new residential neighborhoods, and the housing market reflects that demand. Median home values in the area place it above the national benchmark, and rents have been rising, making homeownership more expensive than renting for most households.
The student body is diverse. White students make up close to half of enrollment, Hispanic students are the next largest group at over a quarter, and smaller shares of students identify as two or more races, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaska Native. More than six in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that indicates a majority of families are in lower-income brackets. Data was not available for the share of students with disabilities or those classified as English learners, so a parent interested in those support structures may want to ask the school directly.
On state assessments for the most recent year, a majority of students met the proficiency bar in English language arts, and a similar share did so in science. In math, about one in three students were proficient. This is a single snapshot, with no prior year data for comparison, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a stable pattern or a particular cohort. Because the comparison fact-set could not position this school against other high schools in Snohomish County on proficiency, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism, a parent may want to ask the school or district office for context on how Everett High’s academic outcomes compare to peer schools in the area.
The district that operates Everett High, Everett School District, has made several recent changes that affect the high school. In 2022, voters approved a major bond for school construction and facility improvements after a similar bond had failed earlier that year. The bond funds safety and security upgrades, roof and HVAC replacements, classroom additions to address overcrowding, and a new elementary school. In 2024, voters passed a replacement levy for programs and operations after an earlier version had failed; the levy supports teachers, special education, athletics, music, and arts programs. The district also implemented high school boundary changes in phases between 2020 and 2023 affecting all three comprehensive high schools, including Everett High, to relieve overcrowding. Additional elementary boundary changes were approved for the future.
A parent considering Everett High should be aware of the school’s math proficiency result as an area where students may need additional support. The school’s downtown location means students have access to transit and civic amenities, and the district has shown a willingness to invest in facilities and programs despite close votes on funding measures. The school offers a full regular high school program, and the district’s levy funds arts and athletics, though no specifics on course offerings or extracurricular breadth are available in the data provided for this school. The overall picture is of a large, diverse urban high school in a growing city with a strong industrial and employment base, serving a student body where most families face economic challenges.
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