Summary
Centralia Middle School in Centralia, Washington, serves 479 students in grades 7–8 and is part of the Centralia School District, an area where students face higher-than-usual economic needs. The school ranks in the 20th percentile among Washington middle schools and received a one-star rating in the latest data. About 74.95% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–2025—the highest reported rate among the nearby comparison schools. Centralia’s student-teacher ratio, 17.9 to 1, is better than that of most nearby schools, and its per-student spending of $17,295 is roughly middle of the comparison group.
Academic performance is below Washington averages in all three tested subjects. In 2025–2026, 38.88% of students were proficient in English Language Arts (ELA), compared with 52.81% statewide; math proficiency was 23.97%, compared with 43.11%; and science proficiency was 22.49%, compared with 50.95%. ELA is the school’s relative strength and exceeds the district rate, while science is the most urgent concern. Centralia ranked seventh of nine nearby schools in ELA and eighth in both math and science. For comparison, Tumwater Middle School reported 58.36% ELA, 40.81% math, and 52.63% science proficiency, while Rochester Middle School reported 53.26%, 41.44%, and 55.33%, respectively.
Grade-level results point to a particularly important eighth-grade challenge. ELA proficiency fell from 46.67% in seventh grade to 29.33% in eighth grade, while math declined from 28.63% to 18.27%; science is also tested in eighth grade. Math improved from 17.08% to 23.97% over the past year, but ELA has remained in the high-30% to low-40% range and science has declined. Centralia performs above Winlock Middle School in all three subjects, so it is not the lowest-performing local school. Key improvement priorities include eighth-grade support, science instruction, sustaining math gains, attendance and intervention systems, and learning from stronger nearby schools while recognizing Centralia’s different level of student need.
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