Washington Middle School, Olympia WA

Original Research by School Decision on Washington Middle School

Washington Middle School serves the Olympia area as a regular public school for students in grades six through eight. It is part of the Olympia School District and draws its student body from the broader capital city, a place shaped by its role as the seat of state government. Olympia itself is a mix of government offices, residential neighborhoods, a historic downtown on Budd Inlet, and a college-town element anchored by The Evergreen State College. State government is the dominant employer, and the city has a notable music and arts history, particularly from the 1990s. The area is connected by fare-free public bus service and sits about an hour southwest of Seattle along Interstate 5.

The school enrolls students across three middle grades, with each grade level hosting a roughly similar number of students. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares identifying as Hispanic, Asian, two or more races, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaska Native. More than one in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate level of economic diversity.

Washington Middle School’s academic performance stands out when placed alongside other middle schools in Thurston County. On a combined measure of proficiency across English language arts, math, and science, the school performed in the top quartile among county districts. This is a clear strength of the school.

Looking at specific subjects by grade level, the pattern is one of solid performance with some variation by subject and grade. In English language arts, proficiency rates across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades were all in the seven out of ten range, showing consistent achievement. In math, the rates were lower, with a sixth-grade rate that was moderate, a seventh-grade rate slightly below that, and an eighth-grade rate that was lower still, though still a reasonable majority of students met the bar. In science, tested in eighth grade only, the proficiency rate was above the midpoint, meaning more than six in ten students demonstrated proficiency on that assessment.

The school’s overall combined proficiency rate across all tested subjects and grades places it meaningfully above the typical level for districts in Thurston County. This suggests that Washington Middle School, on the whole, delivers academic results that are notably higher than what many neighboring schools achieve.

On the housing side, the area around the school shows home values that are slightly below the state benchmark and a bit higher than the national median. Rental costs are substantial, and the monthly cost of owning a home, factoring in a typical mortgage rate, is notably higher than renting. This suggests a market where buying is a stretch for many households and where rental affordability, while still present, requires a significant share of median income.

A parent considering Washington Middle School will find a school with a clear academic profile: a reliable performer that outpaces many of its county peers, especially in English language arts, and where math scores, while solid overall, show a trend of declining proficiency as students progress from sixth to eighth grade. That decline in math is something a family might want to ask the school about directly, to understand what support is in place for eighth-grade math instruction. The school appears to serve a diverse but majority-white student body with a moderate level of economic need. The broader community context is that of a mid-sized state capital with a lively downtown, a strong government employment base, and a housing market that is expensive relative to incomes. No data on chronic absenteeism or discipline was available for this school, so those areas remain unexamined in this account. The district did not have recent parent-relevant changes publicly reported, so this picture reflects the school as it stands now without a known pattern of recent disruption or reform.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 52% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 52% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 36% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 773%

School 73% · District 67% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 66% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 60% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

This schoolOlympia 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-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income42%Higher-income77%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income62%Higher-income75%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income78%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income52%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income42%Higher-income73%31 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income69%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income63%36 pp gap