Best Schools: How Lakewood Ranked In 2022 Niche List

LAKEWOOD, WA — The latest school rankings released by the data analysis company Niche offer a look at how K-12 schools in Lakewood compare with each other.

Niche, which released its eighth annual version of the rankings Monday, looks at a variety of criteria in determining a grade for both public and private K-12 schools in Lakewood, including academics, teachers and diversity.

Overall, the Clover Park School District scored better than average, with Niche giving the district an overall B- grade. The district scored well in some aspects, earning an A+ for diversity efforts and a + for college prep, but was held back somewhat by middling academics and health & safety scores.

Niche found that Clover Park School District had a student-teacher ratio of 18-1, and that at least 39 percent of its students were proficient in math, and 51 percent in reading. Niche ultimately ranked the school the 9th best district in Pierce County.

Of course, some individual schools performed better than others. Rainier Elementary and Harrison Preparatory Elementary both netted high scores, each earning an A- review. Meanwhile, Tyee Park Elementary, Park Lodge Elementary, and Tillicum Elementary School fell behind the pack with a C. The remaining Clover Park School District schools all ended up in the C to B+ range.

Niche said its 2022 best schools rankings offer a more “personal” view of schools than its rankings in recent years. Significantly less importance was placed on SAT and ACT scores this year, Niche said. Any factor in its methodology that is related to test scores was reduced by one third.

The company combined ratings from students, alumni and parents with quantitative data from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources to evaluate teachers, resources, facility, extracurricular activity opportunities and other factors. Read more about the methodology here.

Across the country, Niche ranked 94,491 public schools, 2,489 private schools and 11,846 school districts to come up with its lists and rankings.

Top 5 Public High Schools:

1. The Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada
2. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
3. Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science School
4. Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Virginia
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Virginia

Top 5 Private High Schools:

1. Phillips Academy in Massachusetts
2. The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut
3. Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut
4. The College Preparatory School in California
5. Groton School in Massachusetts

Top 5 School Districts:

1. Adlai E. Stevenson High School District in Illinois
2. Glenbrook High School District in Illinois
3. Great Neck Public Schools in New York
4. Community High School District 128 in Illinois
5. Jericho Union Free School District in New York

>> See the full Niche rankings here