North Mason Senior High School

North Mason Senior High School is a public grades 9–12 school in Belfair, Washington, serving about 735 students in a largely rural community and representing the larger of the two high schools in the North Mason School District. The school’s 2025–26 ranking placed it at the 34th percentile statewide, a major improvement from the 7th percentile in 2023–24. Its 51.02% free- or reduced-price lunch rate also indicates that it serves a higher-need population than nearby traditional high schools such as Gig Harbor High and Peninsula High School.

Graduation and student-retention results are relative strengths. In 2024–25, North Mason’s graduation rate was 84.3%, above both the district’s 77.9% and Washington’s 82.6%, while its 8.5% dropout rate was below the district and state rates. English Language Arts is the school’s strongest academic subject: 59.48% of students were proficient in 2025–26, exceeding the district’s 39.09% and the state’s 52.81%. ELA performance has risen sharply after a dip in 2023–24. The school’s completion results are encouraging, though graduation remains below South Kitsap High School, Gig Harbor High, and Peninsula High School.

Math is the clearest concern: only 23.03% of students were proficient, compared with 30.11% districtwide and 43.11% statewide. Science proficiency was also below the state, at 33.08%, although it was fairly close to the district result. Overall, the school appears to be making meaningful progress in ELA, graduation, dropout reduction, and several subgroup outcomes, but academic improvement is uneven. Comparisons with smaller alternative programs, including James A. Taylor High School and Discovery, should be made cautiously because those schools serve different student populations and have much smaller enrollments.