The Center School
SEATTLE · WA · Seattle School District No. 1 · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Cascade Parent Partnership Program → Summit Public School: Sierra → Seattle World School → Interagency Programs → International Community School → Interagency Open Doors → Innovation Heights Academy → Nova High School →At a glance
- 5 AP courses offered — Strong
- Gifted & talented program
- 2 calculus classes · 3 physics
- AP rigor: 64th percentile nationally
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How The Center School compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 64th percentile nationally with 5 AP courses.
- ▸ LocallyWA sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Cascade Parent Partnership Program, Summit Public School: Sierra, Seattle World School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses
64th percentile nationally
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
State assessment · WA Smarter Balanced · grade 10
SBAC grade 10 — met or exceeded standard
School year 2024-25. Levels 3 + 4 combined ("at or above grade level"). Cells suppressed by the state when sample is small.
Source: WA state DOE Smarter Balanced results. Levels 1–2 = below standard, 3 = met, 4 = exceeded. Headline = level 3 + level 4 combined.
Federal Title I context
Lower-need school
Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)
<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Your state's public flagship
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $14,091/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Parent Partnership Program SEATTLE |
Public | 1.7 | 139 | +12.1% |
| Summit Public School: Sierra Seattle |
Public · charter | 2.2 | 214 | -27.7% |
| Seattle World School SEATTLE |
Public | 2.0 | 218 | +2.3% |
| Interagency Programs SEATTLE |
Public | 3.0 | 210 | -6.2% |
| International Community School Kirkland |
Public | 8.0 | 174 | -2.8% |
| Interagency Open Doors Seattle |
Public | 5.3 | 132 | -5.0% |
| Innovation Heights Academy Burien |
Public | 8.4 | 142 | +31.5% |
| Nova High School SEATTLE |
Public | 2.5 | 256 | +11.3% |