Summary:
ZIP code 98168 has three middle schools serving about 1,813 students: Glacier Middle School in Highline School District, Showalter Middle School in Tukwila School District, and Rainier Prep in Rainier Prep Charter School District. Glacier and Showalter serve grades 6–8, while Rainier Prep serves grades 5–8. All three schools serve communities with similar reported economic profiles, with roughly 74%–75% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, but their academic results differ substantially.
Rainier Prep is the clear standout for families prioritizing academic performance. Its 2025–26 proficiency rates were 71.03% in English language arts, 67.69% in math, and 66.85% in science—well above Washington averages in each subject. It ranked 48th out of 514 schools statewide, earned five stars, and improved sharply from the previous year, especially in science and math. Its smaller enrollment of 359 students and student-teacher ratio of 14.6 are notable differences, although the available data cannot establish that these factors caused its stronger results. Because Rainier Prep includes fifth grade, comparisons focused only on grades 6–8 are the fairest, but it still remains far ahead of the other schools.
Between the two larger district middle schools, Showalter Middle School is the stronger option. It reports proficiency rates of 24.96% in English language arts, 15.56% in math, and 27.84% in science, compared with 16.00%, 9.49%, and 16.14% at Glacier Middle School. Showalter also ranks higher statewide, has a lower student-teacher ratio, and shows relatively steady performance across grades. Glacier is the largest school, with 803 students, but ranks near the bottom statewide and faces its greatest challenge in math. Overall, parents will find a wide range of outcomes in 98168: Rainier Prep performs above state averages, while Showalter and Glacier remain below them in every tested subject.
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