Is Mount Tahoma High School a good school?

Mount Tahoma High School ranks in the bottom 9.8% of Washington high schools.

How many students attend Mount Tahoma High School?

In the 2022-23 school year, 1,430 students attended Mount Tahoma High School.

What is the racial makeup of Mount Tahoma High School?

Students at Mount Tahoma High School are 29% Hispanic, 18% White, 16% African American, 15% Asian, 13% Two or more races, 7% Pacific Islander.

What schools feed into Mount Tahoma High School?

Mount Tahoma High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Arlington Elementary School Elementary : Birney Elementary School Elementary : Fawcett Elementary School Elementary : Fern Hill Elementary School Elementary : Helen Stafford Elementary School Elementary : Larchmont Elementary School Elementary : Manitou Park Elementary School Middle : Baker Middle School Middle : Gray Middle School

Mount Tahoma High School

Summary:

Mount Tahoma High School is a public high school in Tacoma, Washington, serving 1,430 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Tacoma School District, which is ranked 152 out of 247 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Academically, Mount Tahoma High School consistently performs below the district and state averages on standardized tests, with only 40.82% of 10th-grade students proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 56.11% for the district and 66.2% for the state. The school's graduation rate, ranging from 84.4% to 91.4%, is also lower than the state average, and its dropout rate has been increasing, reaching 11.2% in the 2022-2023 school year. Certain student subgroups, such as African American, Hispanic, and English Language Learner students, perform particularly poorly, ranking in the bottom 25% of Washington high schools in their respective categories.

In comparison, the nearby Industrial Design Engineering and Arts school, which is also part of the Tacoma School District, significantly outperforms Mount Tahoma High School on academic measures. Meanwhile, other nearby schools like Oakland High School and Clover Park High School have even lower academic performance and higher dropout rates. Despite a significant increase in per-student spending at Mount Tahoma High School, these resources do not appear to have translated into improved academic outcomes, suggesting the need for a comprehensive, data-driven approach to school improvement.

Detail:

Public 9-12

4634 S 74th Street
Tacoma, WA 98409

(253) 571-3852

District: Tacoma School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
394^th of 437 Washington High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,020

Feeder schools for Mount Tahoma High School:

Elementary:	Arlington Elementary School
	Birney Elementary School
	Fawcett Elementary School
	Fern Hill Elementary School
	More...
	Helen Stafford Elementary School
	Larchmont Elementary School
	Manitou Park Elementary School
Middle:	Baker Middle School
	Gray Middle School

Student/teacher ratio: 20.1

Number of students: 1,430

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

29.2%

White:

18.4%

African American:

15.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 71.4%

See top rated Washington high schools

Compare Mount Tahoma High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Mount Tahoma High School ranks worse than 90.2% of high schools in Washington. It also ranks 7^th among 9 ranked high schools in the Tacoma School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 15.19. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Mount Tahoma 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 Student population at Mount Tahoma High School is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (29.2%), White (18.4%), African American (15.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 71.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Mount Tahoma High School is 20.1. 8 high schools in the Tacoma School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Mount Tahoma High School employs 70.9 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Mount Tahoma High School is $17,020, which is the 8^th highest among 9 high schools in the Tacoma School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Mount Tahoma High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Mount Tahoma High School 394^th of 437 Washington public high schools. (See Mount Tahoma High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Tacoma School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Tacoma School District 152^nd of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Mount Tahoma High School

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Rank History for all students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	17.99	329^th	390	15.6%
2005	28.85	304^th	394	22.8%
2006	19.28	331^st	395	16.2%
2007	28.29	315^th	399	21.1%
2008	29.62	311^th	396	21.5%
2009	29.87	305^th	402	24.1%
2010	31.32	315^th	423	25.5%
2011	18.93	358^th	440	18.6%
2012	14.81	379^th	450	15.8%
2013	29.32	348^th	454	23.3%
2015	24.68	275^th	341	19.4%
2016	23.71	262^nd	306	14.4%
2017	16.97	262^nd	301	13.0%
2018	21.28	269^th	315	14.6%
2019	10.24	391^st	417	6.2%
2021	6.64	445^th	455	2.2%
2022	12.10	405^th	434	6.7%
2023	14.80	399^th	442	9.7%
2024	15.19	394^th	437	9.8%

See the entire list of Washington High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	18.90	77^th	91	15.4%
2019	6.55	161^st	163	1.2%
2021	10.70	186^th	195	4.6%
2022	15.68	163^rd	179	8.9%
2023	9.40	161^st	166	3.0%
2024	10.05	153^rd	161	5.0%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	29.97	50^th	65	23.1%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	38.14	89^th	139	36.0%
2019	9.82	128^th	128	0.0%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	20.98	198^th	227	12.8%
2019	10.33	332^nd	344	3.5%
2021	10.59	384^th	392	2.0%
2022	22.33	311^th	370	15.9%
2023	20.42	312^th	362	13.8%
2024	19.15	321^st	356	9.8%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	9.57	43^rd	43	0.0%
2021	51.43	17^th	45	62.2%
2022	30.58	21^st	27	22.2%
2023	17.66	15^th	19	21.1%

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

Rank History for Female students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	17.56	217^th	243	10.7%
2019	10.08	340^th	358	5.0%
2021	7.24	381^st	390	2.3%
2022	10.15	350^th	368	4.9%
2023	13.71	331^st	357	7.3%
2024	13.89	320^th	347	7.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	18.66	225^th	254	11.4%
2019	8.42	338^th	355	4.8%
2021	5.87	388^th	395	1.8%
2022	10.35	345^th	363	5.0%
2023	10.40	340^th	358	5.0%
2024	11.88	340^th	362	6.1%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	39.15	58^th	87	33.3%
2019	10.06	114^th	121	5.8%
2021	7.77	131^st	136	3.7%
2022	8.87	121^st	124	2.4%
2023	11.14	113^th	118	4.2%
2024	15.15	103^rd	113	8.8%

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

Rank History for African American students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	18.51	49^th	54	9.3%
2019	16.87	81^st	86	5.8%
2021	21.53	95^th	111	14.4%
2022	16.73	78^th	89	12.4%
2023	9.94	75^th	78	3.8%
2024	15.89	64^th	70	8.6%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	19.42	142^nd	156	9.0%
2019	13.72	228^th	241	5.4%
2021	7.95	275^th	278	1.1%
2022	13.94	245^th	261	6.1%
2023	19.72	216^th	249	13.3%
2024	18.21	221^st	248	10.9%

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

Rank History for Pacific Islander students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	27.48	15^th	17	11.8%

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

Rank History for White students at Mount Tahoma High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	15.91	204^th	222	8.1%
2019	8.25	360^th	382	5.8%
2021	6.42	402^nd	413	2.7%
2022	7.29	373^rd	390	4.4%
2023	22.88	309^th	379	18.5%
2024	14.46	338^th	374	9.6%

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 Mount Tahoma High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	1134	162	130	47	35	n/a	n/a	0	1508
1989	1000	156	135	40	33	n/a	n/a	0	1364
1990	843	154	126	33	27	n/a	n/a	0	1183
1991	719	152	121	29	24	n/a	n/a	0	1045
1992	738	189	140	33	28	n/a	n/a	0	1128
1993	771	192	148	44	30	n/a	n/a	0	1185
1994	739	206	164	71	29	n/a	n/a	0	1209
1995	765	251	170	106	19	n/a	n/a	0	1311
1996	765	251	170	106	19	n/a	n/a	0	1311
1997	726	244	198	93	17	n/a	n/a	0	1278
1998	722	282	212	95	22	n/a	n/a	0	1333
1999	775	311	233	88	26	n/a	n/a	0	1433
2000	729	258	231	89	36	n/a	n/a	0	1343
2001	726	263	216	89	38	n/a	n/a	0	1332
2002	738	306	287	123	34	n/a	n/a	0	1488
2003	738	306	287	123	34	n/a	n/a	0	1488
2004	836	357	275	129	46	n/a	n/a	0	1643
2005	880	448	293	160	37	n/a	n/a	0	1818
2006	881	456	341	170	34	n/a	n/a	0	1882
2007	806	440	313	200	35	n/a	n/a	0	1794
2008	824	442	346	260	41	n/a	n/a	0	1913
2009	769	436	324	298	38	n/a	n/a	0	1865
2010	660	384	283	266	37	n/a	n/a	0	1630
2011	579	294	205	250	24	32	91	0	1475
2012	554	258	202	273	23	36	118	0	1464
2013	536	334	234	290	38	36	22	0	1490
2014	471	309	231	322	24	47	34	0	1438
2015	472	316	257	349	23	59	54	0	1530
2016	464	317	255	370	15	71	68	0	1560
2017	406	277	241	364	27	69	96	0	1480
2018	369	233	229	389	23	80	104	0	1427
2019	336	208	245	407	13	81	115	0	1405
2020	310	178	228	388	8	89	145	0	1346
2021	283	207	223	376	11	92	161	0	1353
2022	267	214	218	398	9	99	164	7	1376
2023	263	227	219	418	6	100	187	10	1430

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 Mount Tahoma High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1508	68.0	22.1	0
1989	1364	65.0	20.9	n/a
1990	1183	59.0	20.0	0
1991	1045	56.2	18.5	n/a
1992	1128	58.6	19.2	n/a
1993	1185	59.7	19.8	n/a
1994	1209	65.0	18.6	n/a
1995	1311	64.5	20.3	n/a
1996	1311	64.5	20.3	n/a
1997	1278	62.8	20.4	n/a
1998	1333	62.8	21.2	n/a
1999	1433	63.9	22.4	n/a
2000	1343	65.4	20.5	n/a
2001	1332	67.9	19.6	n/a
2002	1488	70.0	21.3	56
2003	1488	70.0	21.3	56
2004	1643	73.0	22.5	49.6
2005	1818	73.0	24.9	50.3
2006	1882	84.2	22.4	53.3
2007	1794	91.9	19.5	52.1
2008	1913	91.3	21.0	52.7
2009	1865	91.3	20.4	55.2
2010	1630	87.9	18.5	62.6
2011	1475	79.8	18.4	56.3
2012	1464	76.8	19.0	45.8
2013	1490	74.6	19.9	72.6
2014	1438	n/a	n/a	74.5
2015	1530	67.0	22.8	74.3
2016	1560	73.0	21.3	73
2017	1480	71.8	20.6	71
2018	1427	68.8	20.7	66.2
2019	1405	69.0	20.3	69.2
2020	1346	69.9	19.2	66.4
2021	1353	64.9	20.8	70
2022	1376	63.8	21.5	49.7
2023	1430	70.9	20.1	71.4

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 Mount Tahoma High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1508	68.0	22.1	0
1989	1364	65.0	20.9	n/a
1990	1183	59.0	20.0	0
1991	1045	56.2	18.5	n/a
1992	1128	58.6	19.2	n/a
1993	1185	59.7	19.8	n/a
1994	1209	65.0	18.6	n/a
1995	1311	64.5	20.3	n/a
1996	1311	64.5	20.3	n/a
1997	1278	62.8	20.4	n/a
1998	1333	62.8	21.2	n/a
1999	1433	63.9	22.4	n/a
2000	1343	65.4	20.5	n/a
2001	1332	67.9	19.6	n/a
2002	1488	70.0	21.3	56
2003	1488	70.0	21.3	56
2004	1643	73.0	22.5	49.6
2005	1818	73.0	24.9	50.3
2006	1882	84.2	22.4	53.3
2007	1794	91.9	19.5	52.1
2008	1913	91.3	21.0	52.7
2009	1865	91.3	20.4	55.2
2010	1630	87.9	18.5	62.6
2011	1475	79.8	18.4	56.3
2012	1464	76.8	19.0	45.8
2013	1490	74.6	19.9	72.6
2014	1438	n/a	n/a	74.5
2015	1530	67.0	22.8	74.3
2016	1560	73.0	21.3	73
2017	1480	71.8	20.6	71
2018	1427	68.8	20.7	66.2
2019	1405	69.0	20.3	69.2
2020	1346	69.9	19.2	66.4
2021	1353	64.9	20.8	70
2022	1376	63.8	21.5	49.7
2023	1430	70.9	20.1	71.4

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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