Is Highland Middle School a good school?

Highland Middle School ranks 386 th of 535 Washington middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Highland Middle School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 618 students attended Highland Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Highland Middle School?

Students at Highland Middle School are 45% Hispanic, 22% White, 18% Asian, 9% Two or more races, 6% African American.

What high school do graduates of Highland Middle School attend?

Students who attend Highland Middle School usually go on to attend Interlake Senior High School

Highland Middle School

Summary:

Highland Middle School is a public middle school in Bellevue, Washington, serving 618 students in grades 6-8. It is part of the Bellevue School District, which is ranked 18th out of 247 districts in the state and has a 5-star rating.

Highland Middle School stands out for its diverse student population, with 44.66% Hispanic, 18.12% Asian, and 22.01% White students - higher diversity than nearby schools like Odle Middle School and Chinook Middle School. However, the school's academic performance, as measured by standardized test scores, is lower than the district and state averages, with proficiency rates of 40.69% in English Language Arts and 25.76% in Math. The school also struggles with significant equity gaps, with lower performance for Hispanic, African American, and English Language Learner students compared to their peers.

Highland Middle School's challenges are further highlighted by its declining statewide ranking, from 118th out of 443 Washington middle schools in 2015-2016 to 386th out of 535 in 2023-2024. While the school spends more per student ($20,054 in 2021-2022) than nearby higher-performing schools like Tyee Middle School, the academic outcomes suggest the resources may not be effectively targeted to address the specific needs of the diverse student population. Addressing these issues will require a comprehensive approach, including targeted interventions, resource allocation, and learning from the practices of the higher-performing nearby schools.

Detail:

Public 6-8

15027 NE Bel-Red Rd
Bellevue, WA 98007

(425) 456-6469

District: Bellevue School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
386^th of 535 Washington Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $20,054

Students who attend Highland Middle School usually attend:

High:

Interlake Senior High School

Feeder schools for Highland Middle School:

Elementary:	Ardmore Elementary School
	Bennett Elementary School
	Sherwood Forest Elementary
	Stevenson Elementary

Student/teacher ratio: 15.3

Number of students: 618

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

44.7%

White:

22.0%

Asian:

18.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 58.3%

See top rated Washington middle schools

Compare Highland Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Highland Middle School ranks worse than 72.1% of middle schools in Washington. It also ranks last among 5 ranked middle schools in the Bellevue School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 27.52. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Highland Middle School has the smallest middle school student body size in the Bellevue School District. Student population at Highland Middle School is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (44.7%), White (22%), Asian (18.1%). (See more...)

Compare Details 58.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Bellevue School District. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Highland Middle School is 15.3, which is the lowest among 5 middle schools in the Bellevue School District! (See more...)

Compare Highland Middle School employs 40.2 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Highland Middle School is $20,054, which is the highest among 5 middle schools in the Bellevue School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Highland Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Highland Middle School 386^th of 535 Washington public middle schools. (See Highland Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Bellevue School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Bellevue School District 18^th of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Highland Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	51.44	213^th	421	49.4%
2005	50.83	223^rd	425	47.5%
2006	48.45	229^th	449	49.0%
2007	61.62	157^th	463	66.1%
2008	54.29	203^rd	466	56.4%
2009	56.06	203^rd	476	57.4%
2010	58.49	193^rd	483	60.0%
2011	57.53	200^th	492	59.3%
2012	69.90	120^th	497	75.9%
2013	68.37	142^nd	498	71.5%
2015	66.09	137^th	445	69.2%
2016	69.21	118^th	443	73.4%
2017	57.67	185^th	435	57.5%
2018	53.03	200^th	437	54.2%
2019	34.57	344^th	512	32.8%
2021	36.90	331^st	529	37.4%
2022	37.73	325^th	541	39.9%
2023	34.38	341^st	539	36.7%
2024	27.52	386^th	535	27.9%

See the entire list of Washington Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	52.42	76^th	166	54.2%
2019	44.44	138^th	246	43.9%
2021	76.95	42^nd	250	83.2%
2022	81.82	36^th	257	86.0%
2023	47.16	122^nd	244	50.0%
2024	47.77	117^th	243	51.9%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	54.13	32^nd	135	76.3%
2019	45.15	39^th	100	61.0%
2022	19.20	58^th	63	7.9%
2023	19.83	51^st	57	10.5%
2024	21.48	63^rd	78	19.2%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	58.38	72^nd	268	73.1%
2019	54.21	65^th	231	71.9%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	29.63	261^st	349	25.2%
2019	15.26	414^th	448	7.6%
2021	16.69	423^rd	458	7.6%
2022	12.78	450^th	475	5.3%
2023	12.90	435^th	463	6.0%
2024	13.30	423^rd	455	7.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	42.70	215^th	376	42.8%
2019	30.84	328^th	452	27.4%
2021	38.25	283^rd	469	39.7%
2022	36.70	297^th	479	38.0%
2023	37.65	277^th	464	40.3%
2024	31.01	328^th	464	29.3%

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

Rank History for Male students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	58.88	138^th	371	62.8%
2019	37.61	278^th	453	38.6%
2021	35.72	298^th	476	37.4%
2022	37.29	290^th	480	39.6%
2023	28.57	340^th	470	27.7%
2024	22.30	371^st	466	20.4%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	40.49	79^th	123	35.8%
2019	30.77	117^th	152	23.0%
2021	45.44	82^nd	149	45.0%
2022	55.12	72^nd	161	55.3%
2023	47.50	78^th	145	46.2%
2024	34.45	96^th	148	35.1%

See the entire list of Best Washington Middle Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	39.33	64^th	111	42.3%
2021	26.21	86^th	106	18.9%
2023	58.18	37^th	96	61.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	33.75	178^th	259	31.3%
2019	13.44	328^th	344	4.7%
2021	16.60	331^st	353	6.2%
2022	13.28	337^th	360	6.4%
2023	16.10	302^nd	336	10.1%
2024	15.43	313^th	344	9.0%

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

Rank History for White students at Highland Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	64.92	107^th	325	67.1%
2019	64.43	143^rd	470	69.6%
2021	61.81	160^th	480	66.7%
2022	63.82	151^st	488	69.1%
2023	57.33	184^th	488	62.3%
2024	54.87	203^rd	486	58.2%

See the entire list of Best Washington Middle 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

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Monday, October 5, 2015

I have two children currently at Highland and my oldest attended several years ago. I am extremely happy with this school, overall. I have found the teachers to be exceptional. My children are very comfortable there and have not had any complaints about a single teacher. The majority of teachers have been very responsive to parents and students, and the previous principal was fantastic. We love the diversity of the school as well. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Highland Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	504	29	96	5	3	n/a	n/a	0	637
1989	477	32	92	6	4	n/a	n/a	0	611
1990	481	42	105	11	2	n/a	n/a	0	641
1991	533	41	103	19	2	n/a	n/a	0	698
1992	515	35	110	28	1	n/a	n/a	0	689
1993	467	42	133	39	1	n/a	n/a	0	682
1994	415	45	132	48	0	n/a	n/a	0	640
1995	398	33	139	54	1	n/a	n/a	0	625
1996	398	33	139	54	1	n/a	n/a	0	625
1997	441	37	130	46	3	n/a	n/a	0	657
1998	425	29	136	76	4	n/a	n/a	0	670
1999	403	28	120	66	2	n/a	n/a	0	619
2000	358	32	96	59	2	n/a	n/a	0	547
2001	342	27	99	62	2	n/a	n/a	0	532
2002	328	21	85	108	2	n/a	n/a	0	544
2003	328	21	85	108	2	n/a	n/a	0	544
2004	305	17	95	111	3	n/a	n/a	0	531
2005	263	20	96	91	3	n/a	n/a	24	497
2006	248	14	90	99	1	n/a	n/a	36	488
2007	255	17	99	140	2	n/a	n/a	38	551
2008	227	17	101	142	1	n/a	n/a	36	524
2009	206	21	103	116	0	n/a	n/a	33	479
2010	214	25	104	119	2	n/a	n/a	31	495
2011	194	23	105	128	4	0	36	0	490
2012	226	26	115	125	3	0	35	0	530
2013	213	20	117	132	1	0	40	0	523
2014	214	17	111	135	1	0	39	0	517
2015	205	22	106	156	0	0	44	0	533
2016	220	30	100	163	0	2	50	0	565
2017	200	23	88	149	1	1	39	0	501
2018	187	29	84	146	0	5	38	0	489
2019	142	38	78	154	0	2	35	0	449
2020	141	38	88	194	0	2	32	0	495
2021	167	33	97	232	1	1	42	0	573
2022	163	29	127	278	1	1	43	0	642
2023	136	35	112	276	0	4	53	2	618

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 Highland Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	637	30.0	21.2	0
1989	611	28.0	21.8	n/a
1990	641	28.6	22.4	0
1991	698	30.7	22.7	n/a
1992	689	35.1	19.6	n/a
1993	682	32.7	20.9	n/a
1994	640	31.8	20.1	n/a
1995	625	30.5	20.5	n/a
1996	625	30.5	20.5	n/a
1997	657	33.0	19.9	n/a
1998	670	33.7	19.9	n/a
1999	619	37.3	16.6	n/a
2000	547	30.8	17.8	n/a
2001	532	28.5	18.7	n/a
2002	544	29.9	18.2	33.3
2003	544	29.9	18.2	33.3
2004	531	31.0	17.1	37.3
2005	497	31.1	16.0	42.9
2006	488	29.2	16.7	45.4
2007	551	32.4	17.0	44.1
2008	524	32.3	16.2	41.2
2009	479	32.3	14.8	41.7
2010	495	25.9	19.0	45.9
2011	490	25.2	19.4	47.1
2012	530	30.0	17.6	45.7
2013	523	36.2	14.4	47.6
2014	517	n/a	n/a	35.8
2015	533	35.0	15.2	44.7
2016	565	38.0	14.8	43.4
2017	501	33.7	14.8	43.5
2018	489	30.5	16.0	46
2019	449	29.4	15.2	49.9
2020	495	31.3	15.7	49.3
2021	573	36.3	15.7	48.7
2022	642	35.6	18.0	49.2
2023	618	40.2	15.3	58.3

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 Highland Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	637	30.0	21.2	0
1989	611	28.0	21.8	n/a
1990	641	28.6	22.4	0
1991	698	30.7	22.7	n/a
1992	689	35.1	19.6	n/a
1993	682	32.7	20.9	n/a
1994	640	31.8	20.1	n/a
1995	625	30.5	20.5	n/a
1996	625	30.5	20.5	n/a
1997	657	33.0	19.9	n/a
1998	670	33.7	19.9	n/a
1999	619	37.3	16.6	n/a
2000	547	30.8	17.8	n/a
2001	532	28.5	18.7	n/a
2002	544	29.9	18.2	33.3
2003	544	29.9	18.2	33.3
2004	531	31.0	17.1	37.3
2005	497	31.1	16.0	42.9
2006	488	29.2	16.7	45.4
2007	551	32.4	17.0	44.1
2008	524	32.3	16.2	41.2
2009	479	32.3	14.8	41.7
2010	495	25.9	19.0	45.9
2011	490	25.2	19.4	47.1
2012	530	30.0	17.6	45.7
2013	523	36.2	14.4	47.6
2014	517	n/a	n/a	35.8
2015	533	35.0	15.2	44.7
2016	565	38.0	14.8	43.4
2017	501	33.7	14.8	43.5
2018	489	30.5	16.0	46
2019	449	29.4	15.2	49.9
2020	495	31.3	15.7	49.3
2021	573	36.3	15.7	48.7
2022	642	35.6	18.0	49.2
2023	618	40.2	15.3	58.3

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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