Is Salk Middle School a good school?

Salk Middle School ranks 397 th of 535 Washington middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Salk Middle School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 612 students attended Salk Middle School.

What is the racial makeup of Salk Middle School?

Students at Salk Middle School are 67% White, 14% Two or more races, 12% Hispanic, 3% African American, 2% Pacific Islander, 2% Asian.

What high school do graduates of Salk Middle School attend?

Students who attend Salk Middle School usually go on to attend Shadle Park High School

Salk Middle School

Summary:

Salk Middle School is a public middle school in Spokane, Washington, serving 749 students in grades 6-8. While the school has relatively high per-student spending and a low student-teacher ratio, its academic performance lags behind the Spokane School District and the state of Washington, with lower proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Math.

Salk Middle School faces several challenges, including a higher percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds (63.02% receive free or reduced-price lunch) compared to nearby schools, and a declining statewide ranking, from 181 out of 435 Washington middle schools in 2016-2017 to 397 out of 535 in 2023-2024. The school's performance varies significantly across different student subgroups, with Hispanic students performing relatively well but White students and students with special needs struggling. In comparison, Sacajawea Middle School, also part of the Spokane School District, has significantly higher academic achievement, ranking 90 out of 535 Washington middle schools in 2023-2024.

While Salk Middle School has a relatively high per-student spending and a low student-teacher ratio, these factors do not seem to be translating into improved student outcomes. The school's challenges, including lower academic performance, higher percentages of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and declining statewide rankings, highlight the need for Salk to implement more effective strategies to support student learning and achievement.

Detail:

Public 6-8

6411 N Alberta St
Spokane, WA 99208-4499

(509) 354-5600

District: Spokane School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
397^th of 535 Washington Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $16,813

Students who attend Salk Middle School usually attend:

High:

Shadle Park High School

Feeder schools for Salk Middle School:

Elementary:	Balboa Elementary
	Linwood Elementary
	Madison Elementary
	Woodridge Elementary

Student/teacher ratio: 15.1

Number of students: 612

Racial breakdown:

White:

66.7%

Two or more races:

13.7%

Hispanic:

11.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 63.2%

See top rated Washington middle schools

Compare Salk Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Salk Middle School ranks worse than 74.2% of middle schools in Washington. It also ranks 4^th among 9 ranked middle schools in the Spokane School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 25.7. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: White (66.7%), two or more races (13.7%), Hispanic (11.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 63.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Salk Middle School is 15.1. 4 middle schools in the Spokane School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Salk Middle School employs 40.3 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Salk Middle School is $16,813, which is the 4^th highest among 9 middle schools in the Spokane School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Salk Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Salk Middle School 397^th of 535 Washington public middle schools. (See Salk Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle 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:

Spokane School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Spokane School District 123^rd of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Salk Middle School

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Rank History for all students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	67.23	130^th	421	69.1%
2005	73.01	103^rd	425	75.8%
2006	57.11	180^th	449	59.9%
2007	56.17	189^th	463	59.2%
2008	60.57	167^th	466	64.2%
2009	65.10	134^th	476	71.8%
2010	56.64	208^th	483	56.9%
2011	61.33	169^th	492	65.7%
2012	64.33	158^th	497	68.2%
2013	60.13	193^rd	498	61.2%
2015	47.24	228^th	445	48.8%
2016	37.61	276^th	443	37.7%
2017	58.31	181^st	435	58.4%
2018	55.91	185^th	437	57.7%
2019	43.67	289^th	512	43.6%
2021	52.28	229^th	529	56.7%
2022	32.57	365^th	541	32.5%
2023	24.39	413^th	539	23.4%
2024	25.70	397^th	535	25.8%

See the entire list of Washington Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	44.60	93^rd	166	44.0%
2019	43.96	141^st	246	42.7%
2021	41.63	138^th	250	44.8%
2022	23.10	209^th	257	18.7%
2023	16.32	214^th	244	12.3%
2024	16.37	217^th	243	10.7%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	43.19	124^th	268	53.7%
2019	32.38	153^rd	231	33.8%
2021	22.46	181^st	210	13.8%
2022	28.38	145^th	199	27.1%
2024	18.21	159^th	179	11.2%

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

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

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	70.57	64^th	349	81.7%
2019	48.08	230^th	448	48.7%
2021	60.96	130^th	458	71.6%
2022	42.61	259^th	475	45.5%
2023	27.73	354^th	463	23.5%
2024	27.14	347^th	455	23.7%

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

Rank History for Female students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	53.73	167^th	376	55.6%
2019	50.77	220^th	452	51.3%
2021	60.47	165^th	469	64.8%
2022	32.00	332^nd	479	30.7%
2023	23.37	367^th	464	20.9%
2024	27.78	345^th	464	25.6%

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

Rank History for Military Connected students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2021	36.38	32^nd	44	27.3%
2022	30.62	40^th	51	21.6%

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

Rank History for Male students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	52.72	159^th	371	57.1%
2019	36.39	282^nd	453	37.7%
2021	42.95	255^th	476	46.4%
2022	31.78	332^nd	480	30.8%
2023	24.02	369^th	470	21.5%
2024	22.86	364^th	466	21.9%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	65.05	72^nd	259	72.2%
2019	66.64	91^st	344	73.5%
2021	56.69	118^th	353	66.6%
2022	62.89	100^th	360	72.2%
2023	35.10	212^th	336	36.9%
2024	66.28	83^rd	344	75.9%

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

Rank History for White students at Salk Middle School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Middle Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	39.60	199^th	325	38.8%
2019	29.81	349^th	470	25.7%
2021	39.47	289^th	480	39.8%
2022	20.81	411^th	488	15.8%
2023	16.09	432^nd	488	11.5%
2024	18.85	411^th	486	15.4%

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

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Enrollment information for Salk Middle School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	566	7	17	4	12	n/a	n/a	0	606
1989	572	7	16	4	19	n/a	n/a	0	618
1990	621	7	9	3	15	n/a	n/a	0	655
1991	655	9	16	7	14	n/a	n/a	0	701
1992	660	11	17	11	13	n/a	n/a	0	712
1993	670	19	15	8	20	n/a	n/a	0	732
1994	702	11	18	12	13	n/a	n/a	0	756
1995	748	12	18	11	18	n/a	n/a	0	807
1996	748	12	18	11	18	n/a	n/a	0	807
1997	783	15	15	19	15	n/a	n/a	0	847
1998	817	16	16	14	23	n/a	n/a	0	886
1999	728	11	21	14	26	n/a	n/a	0	800
2000	685	9	16	17	24	n/a	n/a	0	751
2001	689	12	15	13	11	n/a	n/a	0	740
2002	764	15	15	14	22	n/a	n/a	0	830
2003	764	15	15	14	22	n/a	n/a	0	830
2004	742	18	14	14	17	n/a	n/a	0	805
2005	701	21	14	17	13	n/a	n/a	1	767
2006	676	17	14	20	20	n/a	n/a	9	756
2007	641	17	18	17	21	n/a	n/a	16	730
2008	611	17	21	22	27	n/a	n/a	40	738
2009	609	17	19	22	17	n/a	n/a	44	728
2010	579	13	17	17	17	n/a	n/a	47	690
2011	627	7	11	19	18	3	44	0	729
2012	568	7	13	39	19	3	58	0	707
2013	543	6	7	55	12	5	81	0	709
2014	558	14	6	49	14	7	89	0	737
2015	592	11	6	55	9	3	72	0	748
2016	550	8	4	66	9	4	78	0	719
2017	522	7	4	76	9	6	89	0	713
2018	517	5	8	61	7	7	94	0	699
2019	522	9	9	71	3	6	112	0	732
2020	539	19	6	84	4	4	110	0	766
2021	537	13	4	80	6	1	105	0	746
2022	513	9	5	70	3	3	112	2	717
2023	518	19	11	73	4	14	108	2	749
2024	408	20	11	73	3	13	84	0	612

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 Salk Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	606	29.0	20.8	0
1989	618	29.0	21.3	n/a
1990	655	32.4	20.2	0
1991	701	32.1	21.8	n/a
1992	712	34.0	20.9	n/a
1993	732	34.8	21.0	n/a
1994	756	37.0	20.4	n/a
1995	807	38.2	21.1	n/a
1996	807	38.2	21.1	n/a
1997	847	42.4	20.0	n/a
1998	886	41.7	21.2	n/a
1999	800	39.2	20.4	n/a
2000	751	38.3	19.6	n/a
2001	740	39.1	18.9	n/a
2002	830	40.9	20.3	30.6
2003	830	40.9	20.3	30.6
2004	805	42.0	19.2	29.6
2005	767	41.5	18.5	32.2
2006	756	38.0	19.9	30.3
2007	730	39.5	18.5	33.1
2008	738	39.3	18.8	37.5
2009	728	39.3	18.5	35.7
2010	690	35.3	19.5	41.5
2011	729	36.6	19.9	40.9
2012	707	35.1	20.1	48.8
2013	709	36.0	19.6	52.2
2014	737	n/a	n/a	51.4
2015	748	37.0	20.2	50.3
2016	719	40.0	17.9	49.9
2017	713	38.4	18.5	51.9
2018	699	40.3	17.3	51.4
2019	732	39.1	18.7	54.1
2020	766	38.4	19.9	54.4
2021	746	37.8	19.7	54.2
2022	717	41.8	17.1	52.9
2023	749	44.4	16.8	63
2024	612	40.3	15.1	63.2

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 Salk Middle School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	606	29.0	20.8	0
1989	618	29.0	21.3	n/a
1990	655	32.4	20.2	0
1991	701	32.1	21.8	n/a
1992	712	34.0	20.9	n/a
1993	732	34.8	21.0	n/a
1994	756	37.0	20.4	n/a
1995	807	38.2	21.1	n/a
1996	807	38.2	21.1	n/a
1997	847	42.4	20.0	n/a
1998	886	41.7	21.2	n/a
1999	800	39.2	20.4	n/a
2000	751	38.3	19.6	n/a
2001	740	39.1	18.9	n/a
2002	830	40.9	20.3	30.6
2003	830	40.9	20.3	30.6
2004	805	42.0	19.2	29.6
2005	767	41.5	18.5	32.2
2006	756	38.0	19.9	30.3
2007	730	39.5	18.5	33.1
2008	738	39.3	18.8	37.5
2009	728	39.3	18.5	35.7
2010	690	35.3	19.5	41.5
2011	729	36.6	19.9	40.9
2012	707	35.1	20.1	48.8
2013	709	36.0	19.6	52.2
2014	737	n/a	n/a	51.4
2015	748	37.0	20.2	50.3
2016	719	40.0	17.9	49.9
2017	713	38.4	18.5	51.9
2018	699	40.3	17.3	51.4
2019	732	39.1	18.7	54.1
2020	766	38.4	19.9	54.4
2021	746	37.8	19.7	54.2
2022	717	41.8	17.1	52.9
2023	749	44.4	16.8	63
2024	612	40.3	15.1	63.2

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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