Original Research by School Decision on Science and Math Institute
Science and Math Institute, or SAMi, is a small high school in Tacoma that serves about the enrollment you would expect for a focused program of its size in the upper grades. It draws a student body that is majority white, with substantial populations of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, Black, or Asian. A substantial share of students come from lower-income households as measured by the free or reduced-price meal program. What you do not see in the publicly reported profile is data on students with disabilities and English learners, which were not available.
The academic picture comes from a single year of state testing results, and it is an uneven one. In English language arts, a strong majority of students met the state proficiency standard. In science, a similarly strong majority met the standard. In math, however, the share of students who met proficiency was much lower, landing below any reasonable midpoint. This is a clear soft spot that a parent should want to look into further with the school, particularly because math proficiency at a school with science in its name stands out. The data does not show a multi-year trend, so it is not possible to tell whether this is a one-year anomaly or a persistent pattern.
Because SAMi serves only grades nine through twelve, no graduation rate is included in the data. The district brief, which we looked for to find any major changes such as school closures or boundary shifts, returned material that was not substantive enough to report. Similarly, the school’s program offerings, discipline data, staffing ratios, and attendance figures were not available in the provided profile, so it is not possible to describe the breadth of course access, the nature of the student support environment, or the day-to-day attendance climate.
Tacoma itself is a mid-sized port city and the county seat of Pierce County. It blends a working waterfront and industrial port with distinct residential neighborhoods such as Hilltop, Proctor, and the Stadium District, and a downtown cultural district with museums, theaters, and restaurants. The largest employment sectors are healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, and educational services. The city is growing steadily, with population increasing between the 2020 census and recent estimates, and a visible push to add housing. Home values have also risen. The walkability of the city varies sharply by neighborhood: downtown has a walkable Museum District, and areas like Proctor and 6th Avenue have foot traffic and dining, but much of the city is car-dependent. SAMi’s location on North Pearl Street places it in the northern part of the city, a residential area near Point Defiance Park and the waterfront.
For a parent or resident assessing this school, the most concrete takeaways are that SAMi produces strong proficiency results in ELA and science from the data available, while math performance is an area that would benefit from direct inquiry. The school serves a small high school population in a growing mid-sized city with an active development scene and a mixed walkability profile. Missing data on programs, discipline, and staffing means the full picture of what the school offers academically and how it supports students day-to-day is not complete from this profile alone.
See more original research from School Decision →