Summary:
The city of Ketchikan, Alaska, is served by Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District, which operates nine schools spanning pre-K through high school—including charter and alternative options—with roughly 2,000 students enrolled, and it ranks 19th of 23 Alaska districts with a one-star rating. Overall, test proficiency is below state averages, but there are important exceptions. Fawn Mountain Elementary has the district’s only above-median state rank and posts the best math result (42.22%). Schoenbar Middle School beats district and state averages in ELA and science. For science, Tongass School of Arts and Sciences Charter School reaches 50% proficiency—far above the state.
At the secondary level, Ketchikan High School has the strongest graduation rate at 90.1%, yet its 7.62% math proficiency is only a quarter of the state rate. In contrast, Revilla Junior/Senior High School spends more per student and keeps class sizes small, but only graduates 65.1% and ranks in the 13th percentile. Houghtaling Elementary, Point Higgins School, and Ketchikan Charter School are generally around or below the district averages, while Fast Track is an alternative program whose high 38:1 ratio and limited test data make comparisons difficult.
Parents should treat year-to-year test scores with caution in this small district. Point Higgins saw ELA drop from 39% to 12.5% between 2024-25 and 2025-26, largely because it serves only pre-K through third grade, so results can reflect one class of third graders. Similar swings appear by grade level at Ketchikan Charter and Tongass. The most pressing issue is secondary math, but strong early elementary work at Fawn Mountain, solid middle-school results at Schoenbar, science success at Tongass, and Ketchikan High’s graduation rate provide meaningful counterpoints.
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