Summary:
ZIP code 98033 has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Kirkland Middle School and Northstar Middle School, both part of the highly rated Lake Washington School District in the Kirkland area. The district ranks fourth among Washington’s 238 districts, and both schools perform well above statewide averages, although they differ greatly in size and in the amount of publicly available data.
Kirkland Middle School is the larger traditional middle school, with 746 students and a recent statewide ranking of 17th out of 514 schools. In 2025–2026, 79.82% of students were proficient in English language arts, 71.43% in math, and 78.89% in science—roughly 27 to 28 percentage points above Washington averages. Results improved in every subject from the prior year, especially science, which increased by nearly 12 points. Kirkland’s main opportunity is math, particularly sixth grade, where proficiency was 67.47%; performance was closer to the district average in seventh and eighth grades. Its results are available across subjects and grades, making the school easier to evaluate in detail.
Northstar Middle School is much smaller, serving 85 students, and has a notable history of top statewide rankings, including first place in 2023–2024. Its reported 2025–2026 math proficiency was 88.76%, exceeding Kirkland by more than 17 points and the state by nearly 46 points. However, its small enrollment can make results more variable, and current ELA and science scores were suppressed rather than reported. Northstar’s 2024–2025 ELA and math results were above 93%. Families comparing the schools should weigh Northstar’s exceptional reported math performance and small setting against Kirkland’s larger enrollment, more complete data, and demonstrated improvement across all tested subjects.
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