Summary:
The city of Burien, Washington is home to 12 schools that serve students from elementary through high school, including 5 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 4 high schools, and 2 alternative schools. These schools are part of the Highline School District, which is ranked 192 out of 247 school districts in Washington and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.
A few schools stand out in Burien, including Shorewood Elementary and Gregory Heights Elementary, which consistently perform above the district and state averages in English Language Arts and Math proficiency. The Big Picture School, a high school, also stands out for its high ELA proficiency rates and relatively low dropout rate of 6.6%. The Highline Public Schools Virtual Academy, an alternative school, performs better than the district average in ELA and Math for 10th grade students.
However, the data also reveals significant challenges within the Burien school system. Several schools have high percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, and there are large disparities in academic proficiency between the top-performing and lower-performing schools, both within the district and compared to state averages. The two alternative schools, Highline Open Doors 1418 and Innovation Heights Academy, have very low graduation rates and high dropout rates, indicating a need for improvement in serving these high-need student populations. Addressing these challenges will likely require a multifaceted approach to ensure all students in Burien receive a high-quality education.
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