10th Street School, Marysville WA

Original Research by School Decision on 10th Street School

10th Street School is a regular public middle school in Marysville serving grades six through eight, part of the Marysville School District. The school enrolls a modest number of students, a size that is relatively small for a middle school in a suburban district. The student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic presence, a notable American Indian or Alaska Native share, and a smaller multiracial group. Asian and Black students make up very small shares. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that is significant but not dominant.

Academically, 10th Street School faces clear challenges. On the state’s Smarter Balanced assessments, proficiency rates in English language arts sit near the midpoint across grades six through eight, with a combined rate that is below half of students meeting standard. In math, the picture is considerably weaker, with proficiency rates well below half in every grade, a pattern that places the school in the bottom quarter of middle schools relative to other districts in Snohomish County. Science results, available for eighth graders only, show a similar pattern of low proficiency. No multi-year trend data is available, as the present year is the only data point, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a stable situation or a shift.

The school is set within a district under severe financial strain. The Marysville School District was placed under state oversight after voters rejected levies, and in the most recent school year the state declared the district financially insolvent, convening a Financial Oversight Committee. This is the largest district in Washington to have been subjected to this level of intervention, and families considering 10th Street School should understand that the financial context may affect program offerings, staffing, class sizes, and extracurriculars. The district brief points to this as a lasting factor, not a temporary one.

Marysville itself is a fast-growing suburban city, the second largest in Snohomish County, historically a lumber and strawberry center now anchored by aerospace, clean technology, e-commerce, warehouse and distribution, and health services. The city has expanded dramatically through annexation and new development, and its housing market reflects that growth. Home values and rents in the area are moderately higher than the national median, placing the city as a relatively expensive part of the Seattle metropolitan housing market. Walkability is limited outside the historic downtown core, and the city is auto-oriented, laid out along Interstate 5. The Centennial Trail along the city’s eastern edge provides a recreational corridor for walking and biking. The city’s rapid population expansion has meant that school facilities and services are spread across multiple neighborhoods rather than concentrated in a single downtown hub.

For a family evaluating 10th Street School, the central tension is between the school’s small size and the district’s financial instability. A small middle school can offer a more contained environment where students are known by staff, and the school’s demographic diversity is broad. However, the academic proficiency data, particularly in math and science, shows a student body that is not, on the whole, performing at the state standard, and the district’s fiscal situation raises questions about whether additional support or program improvements are on the horizon. A parent may want to look into what academic interventions are currently in place, how the state oversight committee’s work is affecting classroom resources, and what the school’s own plan is for raising student achievement. The school serves only middle grades, so families will also want to understand how the feeder high school is faring, especially given the district-wide context.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 26% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 25% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 23% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 34% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 36% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Science

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 31%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

This schoolMarysville School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income46%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income48%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income54%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income33%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income28%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income32%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income30%12 pp gap