Is Kelso High School a good school?

Kelso High School ranks 310 th of 437 Washington high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Kelso High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,379 students attended Kelso High School.

What is the racial makeup of Kelso High School?

Students at Kelso High School are 69% White, 21% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races, 2% Pacific Islander, 1% American Indian, 1% Asian.

What schools feed into Kelso High School?

Kelso High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Barnes Elementary Elementary : Butler Acres Elementary Elementary : Carrolls Elementary Elementary : Lexington Elementary Elementary : Rose Valley Elementary Elementary : Wallace Elementary Middle : Coweeman Middle School Middle : Huntington Middle School

Kelso High School

Summary:

Kelso High School is a public high school located in Kelso, Washington, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 1,424 students. The school is part of the Kelso School District, which is ranked 158 out of 247 districts in Washington and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Kelso High School faces several challenges, including lower test scores, higher dropout rates, and a higher percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds compared to the state average. The school's performance is generally lower than nearby schools, such as Castle Rock High School and Kalama High School, which have higher test scores, graduation rates, and lower dropout rates. Kelso High School's performance varies significantly among different student subgroups, with the school's ranking for Hispanic students being higher than its overall ranking, suggesting that the school is doing a better job of supporting this subgroup compared to others.

The Kelso School District includes two smaller alternative high schools, Kelso Goal Oriented Learning Design and Loowit High School, which have significantly lower graduation rates and higher dropout rates compared to Kelso High School. This suggests that the district may need to focus on providing additional support and resources to these alternative schools to help improve their performance.

Detail:

Public 9-12

1904 Allen St
Kelso, WA 98626

(360) 501-1801

District: Kelso School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
310^th of 437 Washington High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,359

Feeder schools for Kelso High School:

Elementary:	Barnes Elementary
	Butler Acres Elementary
	Carrolls Elementary
	Lexington Elementary
	More...
	Rose Valley Elementary
	Wallace Elementary
Middle:	Coweeman Middle School
	Huntington Middle School

Student/teacher ratio: 18.0

Number of students: 1,379

Racial breakdown:

White:

69.0%

Hispanic:

20.5%

Two or more races:

5.6%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 60.5%

See top rated Washington high schools

Compare Kelso High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Kelso High School ranks worse than 70.9% of high schools in Washington. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 30.71. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Kelso High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

Student Body

Compare Details Kelso High School has the largest high school student body size in the Kelso School District. Racial makeup is: White (69%), Hispanic (20.5%), two or more races (5.6%). (See more...)

Compare Details 60.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Kelso High School is 18. 1 high schools in the Kelso School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Kelso High School employs 76.2 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Kelso High School is $17,359. 1 high schools in the Kelso School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Kelso High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Kelso High School 310^th of 437 Washington public high schools. (See Kelso High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Kelso School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Kelso School District 158^th of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Your rating for Kelso High School?

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Rank History for Kelso High School

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Rank History for all students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	69.82	104^th	390	73.3%
2005	61.45	171^st	394	56.6%
2006	54.86	205^th	395	48.1%
2007	57.27	191^st	399	52.1%
2008	48.69	245^th	396	38.1%
2009	48.68	238^th	402	40.8%
2010	52.47	220^th	423	48.0%
2011	41.35	265^th	440	39.8%
2012	48.89	257^th	450	42.9%
2013	58.94	195^th	454	57.0%
2015	60.52	110^th	341	67.7%
2016	61.84	125^th	306	59.2%
2017	54.71	156^th	301	48.2%
2018	49.60	188^th	315	40.3%
2019	43.02	248^th	417	40.5%
2021	40.83	262^nd	455	42.4%
2022	51.67	200^th	434	53.9%
2023	35.88	285^th	442	35.5%
2024	30.71	310^th	437	29.1%

See the entire list of Washington High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	38.43	104^th	163	36.2%
2021	18.28	175^th	195	10.3%
2022	40.56	112^th	179	37.4%
2023	28.22	123^rd	166	25.9%
2024	28.88	120^th	161	25.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	47.14	33^rd	70	52.9%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2021	28.36	161^st	212	24.1%
2024	12.42	109^th	110	0.9%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	42.39	205^th	344	40.4%
2021	43.11	218^th	392	44.4%
2022	48.65	181^st	370	51.1%
2023	34.90	247^th	362	31.8%
2024	25.87	283^rd	356	20.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	46.68	206^th	358	42.5%
2021	38.91	238^th	390	39.0%
2022	46.93	189^th	368	48.6%
2023	31.66	247^th	357	30.8%
2024	31.35	251^st	347	27.7%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	36.81	240^th	355	32.4%
2021	41.13	222^nd	395	43.8%
2022	49.92	175^th	363	51.8%
2023	34.13	240^th	358	33.0%
2024	22.80	291^st	362	19.6%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	31.09	176^th	241	27.0%
2021	38.38	165^th	278	40.6%
2022	53.03	106^th	261	59.4%
2023	31.49	171^st	249	31.3%
2024	31.52	175^th	248	29.4%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Kelso High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	38.15	255^th	382	33.2%
2021	35.18	272^nd	413	34.1%
2022	45.79	219^th	390	43.8%
2023	27.13	297^th	379	21.6%
2024	20.89	318^th	374	15.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Enrollment information for Kelso High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	1087	5	13	12	18	n/a	n/a	0	1135
1989	1048	0	15	12	9	n/a	n/a	0	1084
1990	928	2	25	11	13	n/a	n/a	0	979
1991	958	3	23	16	15	n/a	n/a	0	1015
1992	1028	5	16	16	15	n/a	n/a	0	1080
1993	1029	5	16	15	20	n/a	n/a	0	1085
1994	1062	6	16	14	15	n/a	n/a	0	1113
1995	1159	6	18	28	28	n/a	n/a	0	1239
1996	1159	6	18	28	28	n/a	n/a	0	1239
1997	1117	4	20	22	26	n/a	n/a	0	1189
1998	1076	5	18	18	27	n/a	n/a	0	1144
1999	1097	6	22	16	44	n/a	n/a	0	1185
2000	1075	10	19	39	37	n/a	n/a	0	1180
2001	1034	7	20	45	33	n/a	n/a	0	1139
2002	1033	13	23	56	79	n/a	n/a	0	1204
2003	1033	13	23	56	79	n/a	n/a	0	1204
2004	1035	17	23	50	82	n/a	n/a	0	1207
2005	1496	27	30	90	154	n/a	n/a	0	1797
2006	1427	21	27	102	154	n/a	n/a	1	1732
2007	1484	25	26	131	152	n/a	n/a	2	1820
2008	1474	25	33	136	149	n/a	n/a	2	1819
2009	1398	21	30	133	121	n/a	n/a	3	1706
2010	1351	26	34	137	122	n/a	n/a	4	1674
2011	1284	21	33	160	89	1	64	0	1652
2012	1233	18	30	173	72	2	82	0	1610
2013	1173	14	31	188	64	2	90	0	1562
2014	1073	11	30	193	45	7	106	0	1465
2015	1136	10	24	206	34	6	103	0	1519
2016	1159	9	21	237	29	9	114	0	1578
2017	1121	4	15	247	33	11	116	0	1547
2018	1188	5	16	247	33	14	110	0	1613
2019	1081	5	17	255	33	16	100	0	1507
2020	1085	5	18	278	28	19	103	1	1537
2021	861	4	15	283	19	14	88	1	1285
2022	980	8	14	301	19	13	73	7	1415
2023	976	9	13	295	21	16	81	13	1424
2024	951	5	14	283	17	26	77	6	1379

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Kelso High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1135	59.0	19.2	0
1989	1084	55.0	19.7	n/a
1990	979	55.0	17.8	0
1991	1015	50.7	20.0	n/a
1992	1080	52.6	20.5	n/a
1993	1085	53.2	20.4	n/a
1994	1113	52.4	21.2	n/a
1995	1239	55.6	22.3	n/a
1996	1239	55.6	22.3	n/a
1997	1189	59.0	20.2	n/a
1998	1144	56.8	20.1	n/a
1999	1185	54.8	21.6	n/a
2000	1180	53.8	21.9	n/a
2001	1139	50.2	22.7	n/a
2002	1204	54.8	22.0	30.2
2003	1204	54.8	22.0	30.2
2004	1207	53.0	22.8	35.5
2005	1797	52.9	34.0	31.4
2006	1732	73.6	23.5	33.9
2007	1820	76.2	23.9	33.4
2008	1819	78.9	23.1	31.8
2009	1706	79.9	21.4	35.6
2010	1674	74.5	22.4	46
2011	1652	75.7	21.8	42.3
2012	1610	67.8	23.7	48.7
2013	1562	66.6	23.4	51.1
2014	1465	n/a	n/a	52.2
2015	1519	71.0	21.3	50.4
2016	1578	74.0	21.3	47.8
2017	1547	73.0	21.1	49.9
2018	1613	77.3	20.8	50.7
2019	1507	78.6	19.1	49.6
2020	1537	73.5	20.9	51.6
2021	1285	70.7	18.1	56.8
2022	1415	70.3	20.1	56.9
2023	1424	73.9	19.2	60.8
2024	1379	76.2	18.0	60.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Kelso High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1135	59.0	19.2	0
1989	1084	55.0	19.7	n/a
1990	979	55.0	17.8	0
1991	1015	50.7	20.0	n/a
1992	1080	52.6	20.5	n/a
1993	1085	53.2	20.4	n/a
1994	1113	52.4	21.2	n/a
1995	1239	55.6	22.3	n/a
1996	1239	55.6	22.3	n/a
1997	1189	59.0	20.2	n/a
1998	1144	56.8	20.1	n/a
1999	1185	54.8	21.6	n/a
2000	1180	53.8	21.9	n/a
2001	1139	50.2	22.7	n/a
2002	1204	54.8	22.0	30.2
2003	1204	54.8	22.0	30.2
2004	1207	53.0	22.8	35.5
2005	1797	52.9	34.0	31.4
2006	1732	73.6	23.5	33.9
2007	1820	76.2	23.9	33.4
2008	1819	78.9	23.1	31.8
2009	1706	79.9	21.4	35.6
2010	1674	74.5	22.4	46
2011	1652	75.7	21.8	42.3
2012	1610	67.8	23.7	48.7
2013	1562	66.6	23.4	51.1
2014	1465	n/a	n/a	52.2
2015	1519	71.0	21.3	50.4
2016	1578	74.0	21.3	47.8
2017	1547	73.0	21.1	49.9
2018	1613	77.3	20.8	50.7
2019	1507	78.6	19.1	49.6
2020	1537	73.5	20.9	51.6
2021	1285	70.7	18.1	56.8
2022	1415	70.3	20.1	56.9
2023	1424	73.9	19.2	60.8
2024	1379	76.2	18.0	60.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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