Summary:
ZIP code 98117 has one high school: Ballard High School, serving grades 9–12 in Seattle’s Ballard area. The school enrolls 1,697 students and is part of Seattle School District No. 1. Because it is the only high school in the ZIP code, there is no local school-to-school comparison; the most useful benchmarks are the district and Washington state.
Ballard is a strong overall performer. It received a four-star rating and ranked 43rd out of 396 schools statewide for 2025–2026, placing it in the 89th percentile. Its academic results are especially strong in English language arts, where 93.84% of students were proficient, compared with 68.13% in the district and 52.81% statewide. Mathematics was also a strength, with 73.14% proficiency versus 60.24% in the district and 43.11% statewide. Ballard’s 2024–2025 graduation rate was 91.3%, higher than the district’s 86.1% and the state’s 82.6%. Its dropout rate was 6.6%, below both the district and state rates.
Science is the main area parents may want to examine more closely. Ballard’s science proficiency rate was 52.24%, slightly above the state’s 50.95% but below the district’s 65.01%. Science also declined from 56.11% the prior year, while ELA and math improved modestly. The school’s student-teacher ratio was 22.8 to 1, and 12.73% of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Overall, Ballard offers a strong academic and graduation profile, particularly in literacy and math, while science performance is the clearest opportunity for improvement. Its large enrollment may also provide the resources and program variety typical of a comprehensive high school, though families should ask about class sizes, course offerings, and science support when evaluating fit.
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