The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 33% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Internet Academy
Internet Academy is an alternative school serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in the Federal Way School District, a public district in King County, Washington. It is a school designed around online learning, and its nature as an alternative program means it sits outside the traditional brick-and-mortar pathway. For a family considering it, the fundamental question is whether this kind of remote environment matches a student’s learning style and need for flexibility.
Federal Way itself is a mid-sized, car-oriented suburban city between Seattle and Tacoma. It is largely built out with apartment complexes, shopping centers, and commercial corridors, and it has been working to develop a planned City Center anchored by a light rail station that opened in late 2025, a performing arts center, and a town square park. The school district is one of the largest employers in the city. The housing market in the area reflects a typical suburban King County pattern, with home values modest relative to the metro area's peak but still substantial, and a rental market that is similarly competitive.
The school’s enrollment is relatively small for a PK-12 program, and its student body is diverse. Roughly half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial and ethnic composition of the school includes a substantial share of white students, with notable populations of Hispanic students, Black students, students who are Asian, and students who identify with two or more races. A parent looking at the school will see a student population that broadly reflects the surrounding community’s diversity.
Because Internet Academy is an alternative school that serves students across many grades, the state assessment data come with some important caveats. For several tested grade levels and subjects, results were suppressed by the state, often because the number of students tested was too small to report publicly. This is common in schools with small enrollments at individual grade levels. For the grades where results were reported, the picture is mixed and worth examining closely by subject and grade. In English language arts, performance ranged widely. A strong majority of fifth graders met the state standard, while just under three-fifths of seventh graders did. Fourth, sixth, and eighth grade results were lower, with a smaller share of students meeting the bar in each of those grades. In math, the pattern was more consistently below the midpoint among districts in King County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A notable share of fourth graders met the math standard, but performance dropped sharply in middle school, with a very small share of eighth graders reaching proficiency. In science, the fifth grade cohort performed at a solid level, while the eighth grade cohort was significantly weaker. A parent looking at any single grade's numbers should remember that the small testing groups at this school mean a handful of students can shift the percentages considerably. The overall proficiency index places the school below the midpoint relative to other districts in King County, a comparison that reflects the school's challenge across the tested grades and subjects.
The school does not have an on-campus course catalog or program listings in the available data, which makes sense for a school where learning is primarily delivered online. It also means that a parent cannot simply browse a list of Advanced Placement or career and technical education offerings in the usual way. The school’s website would be the place to confirm what upper-level courses are available for high school students, particularly since the school serves grades nine through twelve and will need to offer a pathway to graduation. No graduation rate was available in the data, and a parent should verify directly with the school what its rate is, as this is a key piece of information for any high school program.
There are no recent district-wide changes or initiatives reported in the available data, so a family would need to speak with the school about current priorities, how the online curriculum is structured, and what support is offered for students who are struggling or who need enrichment. The school is a choice within the Federal Way district, and for a student who needs a non-traditional setting, either for health reasons, scheduling needs, or a preference for self-paced learning, it could be a strong fit. For a family focused on high test scores as a primary measure, the available proficiency numbers are mixed and would warrant a direct conversation with the school about how their approach to instruction and assessment works.
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