First Creek Middle School, Tacoma WA

Original Research by School Decision on First Creek Middle School

First Creek Middle School serves grades six through eight as a regular public school in the Tacoma School District. Located in a mid-sized port city, the school draws from an east-side Tacoma neighborhood. The student body is diverse and predominantly low-income: a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Hispanic students make up the largest group, followed by Asian, Black, students of two or more races, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and White students, with a small number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. Data on the share of students with disabilities or English learners was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly.

State assessment results for the 2024-25 school year show that proficiency rates in math and English language arts were low across all three grades. In math, the proportion of students meeting the state standard was in the low single digits in eighth grade and somewhat higher in earlier grades, but still well below most schools statewide. In English language arts, the share of proficient students was modest, reaching about a third in seventh grade and slipping a bit in the other grades. In eighth-grade science, roughly a fifth of students met the standard. When the school’s overall proficiency is positioned relative to districts in Pierce County, it falls in the bottom quartile. Only one year of testing data was available, so there is no basis for judging whether performance is improving or declining.

Tacoma itself is a growing city with a working waterfront, a downtown cultural district with museums and theaters, and distinct residential neighborhoods. The local housing market is moderately priced compared with the broader Seattle region: typical home values in the surrounding zip code are in the mid four-hundred-thousand-dollar range, and rents run around two thousand dollars a month. The city’s population has increased steadily over the past several years, and the municipal government has pursued housing initiatives that have spurred new development. The local unemployment rate has been stable at a modest level, and the national median household income sits near the eighties-thousand-dollar mark; by those measures, home affordability in Tacoma is tight, with prices roughly six times income.

We looked for information on the school’s course offerings, staffing ratios, discipline rates, attendance patterns, and Title I status but found none. We also searched for recent district-level changes such as boundary adjustments or school closures, but no widely reported updates were captured. A parent considering this school should ask the school office for details on academic supports, intervention programs, and any available data on student growth over time.

Families who value a multi-ethnic urban environment and are comfortable in a setting where a large share of students faces economic challenges may find First Creek Middle School a good fit. The academic performance is a clear soft spot, and the low proficiency rates mean that most students are not meeting state standards in math, reading, or science. Parents who prioritize high measured achievement will want to investigate the school's support structures and alternatives within the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 28% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 35% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 25% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 68% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 43% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 43% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Science

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 36% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

This schoolTacoma 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-income26%Higher-income59%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income31%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income40%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income33%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income9%Higher-income25%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income10%Higher-income20%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income16%Higher-income21%4 pp gap