Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 98445

ZIP code 98445 has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Morris Ford Middle School in Franklin Pierce School District and Spanaway Middle School in Bethel School District. Together, they enroll 1,597 students, with Morris Ford serving 831 and Spanaway serving 766.

Spanaway Middle School is the stronger-performing school by the available measures. In 2025–26, it exceeded Morris Ford Middle School in English language arts, math, and science. The largest difference was in math: 42.51% of Spanaway students reached proficiency, compared with 22.21% at Morris Ford. Spanaway also had higher ELA results, 47.18% versus 37.94%, and higher science results, 43.53% versus 35.15%. Its statewide ranking was 219th of 514 schools, compared with Morris Ford’s 394th, and it received three stars versus one star. Spanaway’s results were also closer to statewide averages, especially in math.

Morris Ford Middle School has some encouraging trends. ELA and math proficiency both increased from grade 6 to grade 8, and science improved by 4.41 percentage points from the prior year. However, math remains its clearest challenge, particularly in grades 6 and 7. At Spanaway Middle School, grade 8 math deserves attention because performance dropped to 33.48% after stronger results in grades 6 and 7. Both schools improved their rankings in 2025–26, although Spanaway improved more. Morris Ford reports higher spending per student and a lower student-teacher ratio, but those measures have not translated into stronger assessment results.