Is Highlands Middle School a good school?

Highlands Middle School ranks in the bottom 13.5% of Washington middle schools.

How many students attend Highlands Middle School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 723 students attended Highlands Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Highlands Middle School?

Students at Highlands Middle School are 56% Hispanic, 37% White, 3% Two or more races, 2% African American.

Highlands Middle School

Summary:

Highlands Middle School is a public middle school in Kennewick, Washington, serving around 750 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Kennewick School District, which is ranked 135 out of 247 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Highlands Middle School faces significant academic challenges, consistently underperforming compared to the district and state in standardized test scores for English Language Arts, Math, and Science. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 32.74% of Highlands students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 48.97% for the district and 52.63% for the state. The school struggles with the academic performance of several student subgroups, including African American, Hispanic, English Language Learner, and Low Socioeconomic Status students, who consistently rank in the bottom quartile of Washington middle schools. As a result, Highlands Middle School has been ranked in the bottom quartile of Washington middle schools for the past several years, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Interestingly, the nearby middle schools, such as Desert Hills and Chinook, generally outperform Highlands Middle School in academic metrics and have higher overall rankings. This suggests potential issues with racial segregation and equity within the Kennewick School District, as Highlands has a significantly higher percentage of Hispanic students compared to the nearby schools, which tend to have a higher percentage of White students.

Detail:

Public 6-8

425 South Tweedt Street
Kennewick, WA 99336-4399

(509) 222-6700

District: Kennewick School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
463^rd of 535 Washington Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $15,877

Feeder schools for Highlands Middle School:

Elementary:	Edison Elementary School
	Hawthorne Elementary School
	Westgate Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio: 16.3

Number of students: 723

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

55.9%

White:

37.3%

Two or more races:

3.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 75.8%

See top rated Washington middle schools

Compare Highlands Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Highlands Middle School ranks worse than 86.5% of middle schools in Washington. It also ranks last among 5 ranked middle schools in the Kennewick School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 16.9. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (55.9%), White (37.3%), two or more races (3.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 75.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Highlands Middle School is 16.3, which is the lowest among 5 middle schools in the Kennewick School District! (See more...)

Compare Highlands Middle School employs 44.1 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Highlands Middle School is $15,877, which is the highest among 5 middle schools in the Kennewick School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Highlands Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Highlands Middle School 463^rd of 535 Washington public middle schools. (See Highlands Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Migrant students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Kennewick School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Kennewick School District 135^th of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Highlands Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	35.36	297^th	421	29.5%
2005	46.76	247^th	425	41.9%
2006	28.23	348^th	449	22.5%
2007	34.51	327^th	463	29.4%
2008	23.74	385^th	466	17.4%
2009	29.34	367^th	476	22.9%
2010	25.64	382^nd	483	20.9%
2011	17.44	438^th	492	11.0%
2012	22.69	410^th	497	17.5%
2013	9.59	471^st	498	5.4%
2015	18.76	370^th	445	16.9%
2016	21.36	361^st	443	18.5%
2017	9.41	407^th	435	6.4%
2018	14.37	385^th	437	11.9%
2019	12.47	468^th	512	8.6%
2021	16.46	460^th	529	13.0%
2022	12.34	497^th	541	8.1%
2023	14.68	475^th	539	11.9%
2024	16.90	463^rd	535	13.5%

See the entire list of Washington Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	40.77	101^st	166	39.2%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	28.31	112^th	135	17.0%
2019	21.84	82^nd	100	18.0%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	30.53	194^th	268	27.6%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	21.20	299^th	349	14.3%
2021	25.34	373^rd	458	18.6%
2022	19.85	422^nd	475	11.2%
2023	19.05	400^th	463	13.6%
2024	20.86	382^nd	455	16.0%

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

Rank History for Migrant students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	27.40	36^th	43	16.3%
2019	21.11	34^th	39	12.8%
2021	16.18	36^th	38	5.3%
2022	15.25	36^th	36	0.0%
2023	16.94	34^th	36	5.6%
2024	19.11	26^th	29	10.3%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	35.81	44^th	59	25.4%

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

Rank History for Female students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	10.41	347^th	376	7.7%
2019	10.03	419^th	452	7.3%
2021	14.34	422^nd	469	10.0%
2022	9.44	457^th	479	4.6%
2023	12.36	419^th	464	9.7%
2024	17.31	403^rd	464	13.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	15.59	324^th	371	12.7%
2019	14.66	407^th	453	10.2%
2021	19.57	388^th	476	18.5%
2022	15.49	423^rd	480	11.9%
2023	16.01	409^th	470	13.0%
2024	17.15	404^th	466	13.3%

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

Rank History for African American students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	19.09	98^th	111	11.7%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	16.84	237^th	259	8.5%
2019	16.58	313^th	344	9.0%
2021	20.35	304^th	353	13.9%
2022	15.48	325^th	360	9.7%
2023	17.52	294^th	336	12.5%
2024	24.64	272^nd	344	20.9%

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

Rank History for White students at Highlands Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	12.66	298^th	325	8.3%
2019	19.73	400^th	470	14.9%
2021	31.68	332^nd	480	30.8%
2022	22.14	399^th	488	18.2%
2023	20.36	408^th	488	16.4%
2024	20.38	405^th	486	16.7%

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: 1)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent on FaceBook
Tuesday, October 5, 2010

There's a lot of bullying and fighting on school grounds. The teachers and staff do the best they can, but are under staffed to deal with issues where I feel my daughter will be safe. I am debating transferring her to another school. Kids should feel safe going to school since it's the law they have to attend. The staff is wonderful! They just have their hands full! Close Quote

Enrollment information for Highlands Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	564	9	13	50	6	n/a	n/a	0	642
1989	587	8	26	50	5	n/a	n/a	0	676
1990	638	6	20	67	2	n/a	n/a	0	733
1991	690	5	26	88	2	n/a	n/a	0	811
1992	729	6	16	93	2	n/a	n/a	0	846
1993	723	14	14	82	2	n/a	n/a	0	835
1994	520	10	17	62	2	n/a	n/a	0	611
1995	659	16	20	72	2	n/a	n/a	0	769
1996	659	16	20	72	2	n/a	n/a	0	769
1997	668	15	16	95	3	n/a	n/a	0	797
1998	675	13	13	91	2	n/a	n/a	0	794
1999	631	19	19	96	4	n/a	n/a	0	769
2000	586	20	18	104	0	n/a	n/a	0	728
2001	566	20	19	94	0	n/a	n/a	0	699
2002	546	18	14	160	2	n/a	n/a	0	740
2003	546	18	14	160	2	n/a	n/a	0	740
2004	607	24	17	185	3	n/a	n/a	0	836
2005	549	29	27	197	4	n/a	n/a	0	806
2006	542	24	26	225	4	n/a	n/a	1	822
2007	510	31	29	267	9	n/a	n/a	9	855
2008	438	13	26	276	9	n/a	n/a	14	776
2009	438	20	18	276	10	n/a	n/a	20	782
2010	435	26	16	294	7	n/a	n/a	21	799
2011	475	32	20	357	4	7	0	0	895
2012	454	26	26	396	4	2	17	0	925
2013	451	24	21	417	7	5	11	0	936
2014	445	26	19	414	8	5	14	0	931
2015	462	26	18	410	4	5	19	0	944
2016	383	23	18	481	5	8	29	0	947
2017	278	21	8	409	4	2	24	0	746
2018	316	28	12	417	5	3	31	0	812
2019	346	27	8	459	5	1	35	1	882
2020	302	26	5	459	8	3	36	0	839
2021	285	21	7	473	4	7	30	0	827
2022	257	20	7	435	1	10	29	0	759
2023	274	19	6	417	1	8	25	0	750
2024	270	12	6	404	0	6	24	1	723

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 Highlands Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	642	36.0	17.8	0
1989	676	35.0	19.3	n/a
1990	733	35.7	20.5	0
1991	811	41.5	19.5	n/a
1992	846	40.5	20.8	n/a
1993	835	38.8	21.5	n/a
1994	611	33.3	18.3	n/a
1995	769	36.7	21.0	n/a
1996	769	36.7	21.0	n/a
1997	797	38.5	20.7	n/a
1998	794	39.7	20.0	n/a
1999	769	39.7	19.4	n/a
2000	728	39.0	18.7	n/a
2001	699	39.9	17.5	n/a
2002	740	39.7	18.6	42.3
2003	740	39.7	18.6	42.3
2004	836	40.0	20.9	45.3
2005	806	40.5	19.9	47.3
2006	822	46.4	17.7	50.9
2007	855	42.5	20.1	59
2008	776	42.7	18.2	60.9
2009	782	42.7	18.3	66.3
2010	799	40.4	19.7	69.7
2011	895	42.0	21.3	67.2
2012	925	44.7	20.6	67.6
2013	936	45.5	20.5	69
2014	931	n/a	n/a	71.1
2015	944	45.0	20.9	77.8
2016	947	48.0	19.7	79
2017	746	41.6	17.9	0
2018	812	42.6	19.0	83.5
2019	882	46.8	18.8	79.1
2020	839	45.1	18.5	80.9
2021	827	48.1	17.1	79.8
2022	759	47.1	16.0	84.3
2023	750	46.1	16.2	83.6
2024	723	44.1	16.3	75.8

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 Highlands Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	642	36.0	17.8	0
1989	676	35.0	19.3	n/a
1990	733	35.7	20.5	0
1991	811	41.5	19.5	n/a
1992	846	40.5	20.8	n/a
1993	835	38.8	21.5	n/a
1994	611	33.3	18.3	n/a
1995	769	36.7	21.0	n/a
1996	769	36.7	21.0	n/a
1997	797	38.5	20.7	n/a
1998	794	39.7	20.0	n/a
1999	769	39.7	19.4	n/a
2000	728	39.0	18.7	n/a
2001	699	39.9	17.5	n/a
2002	740	39.7	18.6	42.3
2003	740	39.7	18.6	42.3
2004	836	40.0	20.9	45.3
2005	806	40.5	19.9	47.3
2006	822	46.4	17.7	50.9
2007	855	42.5	20.1	59
2008	776	42.7	18.2	60.9
2009	782	42.7	18.3	66.3
2010	799	40.4	19.7	69.7
2011	895	42.0	21.3	67.2
2012	925	44.7	20.6	67.6
2013	936	45.5	20.5	69
2014	931	n/a	n/a	71.1
2015	944	45.0	20.9	77.8
2016	947	48.0	19.7	79
2017	746	41.6	17.9	0
2018	812	42.6	19.0	83.5
2019	882	46.8	18.8	79.1
2020	839	45.1	18.5	80.9
2021	827	48.1	17.1	79.8
2022	759	47.1	16.0	84.3
2023	750	46.1	16.2	83.6
2024	723	44.1	16.3	75.8

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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