Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 99926

ZIP code 99926 in Metlakatla, Alaska, is served by just one middle school, Charles R. Leask Senior Middle School, which enrolls 73 students in grades 6 through 8 within the Annette Island School District. Because this is the only middle school in the area, there is no local competition to compare; instead, the school is best understood by looking at how it compares to district and statewide averages.

Charles R. Leask Senior Middle School has struggled academically for years. It ranked 85th out of 94 Alaska middle schools in 2024–25, placing it in the 10th percentile, and earned only 1 star. In the two prior ranked school years, it earned 0 stars. The Annette Island School District also ranks low, coming in 20th out of 23 districts statewide. Proficiency rates are far below state averages: in 2025–26, just 5.66% of students were proficient in English language arts and 11.32% in math, compared to state averages of roughly 32.89% and 32.20%, respectively. Science proficiency was 20%, also below the state average of 37.81%.

One striking feature of this school is the extreme gap between student poverty and academic performance — nearly 96% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, yet the school spends about $28,342 per student and maintains a favorable 10:1 student–teacher ratio. This suggests that resources alone are not translating into test-score success. The school also showed a sharp decline in ELA proficiency from 15.15% in 2024–25 to 5.66% in 2025–26, though with only 73 students enrolled, that drop could represent just a handful of students. Science was a relative bright spot in 2024–25 at 35%, nearly matching the state average, but that strength was not sustained in 2025–26. While the school saw a slight improvement from 0 stars to 1 star in 2024–25, the overall trend remains one of chronic low performance.