Is Dr. Dolores Silas High School a good school?

Dr. Dolores Silas High School ranks 278 th of 437 Washington high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Dr. Dolores Silas High School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 1,136 students attended Dr. Dolores Silas High School.

What is the racial makeup of Dr. Dolores Silas High School?

Students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School are 52% White, 15% Two or more races, 13% Hispanic, 10% African American, 7% Asian, 1% Pacific Islander.

What schools feed into Dr. Dolores Silas High School?

Dr. Dolores Silas High School is fed by the following schools: Elementary : Downing Elementary School Elementary : Jefferson Elementary School Elementary : Point Defiance Elementary School Elementary : Skyline Elementary School Middle : Truman Middle School

Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Summary:

Dr. Dolores Silas High School is a public high school in Tacoma, Washington, serving 1,114 students in grades 9-12 and part of the Tacoma School District.

The school has a relatively diverse student population, with 53.05% White, 10.86% African American, 13.11% Hispanic, and 6.91% Asian students. However, its academic performance, as measured by standardized test scores, is generally lower than the district and state averages. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, the school's 10th-grade proficiency rates in SBAC English Language Arts (56.71%) and SBAC Math (18.06%) were below the district and state averages. The school has shown improvement in its graduation rates, with a 97.1% four-year graduation rate in the 2022-2023 school year, which is higher than the district and state averages. However, its dropout rate of 2.0% in the same year is still higher than the district and state averages.

When compared to nearby schools in the Tacoma School District, such as Stadium High School and Foss High School, Dr. Dolores Silas High School generally performs worse academically, with lower test scores and graduation rates. The school's performance also varies significantly among different student subgroups, with Asian students outperforming African American and Hispanic students on standardized tests. Despite increased spending per student, from $10,763 in the 2019-2020 school year to $17,246 in the 2021-2022 school year, the school has not seen a significant improvement in its academic outcomes.

Detail:

Public 9-12

1202 N Orchard St
Tacoma, WA 98406

(253) 571-6000

District: Tacoma School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
278^th of 437 Washington High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,246

Feeder schools for Dr. Dolores Silas High School:

Elementary:	Downing Elementary School
	Jefferson Elementary School
	Point Defiance Elementary School
	Skyline Elementary School
Middle:	Truman Middle School

Student/teacher ratio: 23.5

Number of students: 1,136

Racial breakdown:

White:

51.8%

Two or more races:

15.4%

Hispanic:

13.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 47.3%

See top rated Washington high schools

Compare Dr. Dolores Silas High School to nearby high schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Dr. Dolores Silas High School ranks worse than 63.6% of high schools in Washington. It also ranks 6^th among 9 ranked high schools in the Tacoma School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 37.64. (See more...)

The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.

The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Dr. Dolores Silas High School is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (51.8%), two or more races (15.4%), Hispanic (13.4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 47.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Dr. Dolores Silas High School is 23.5. 12 high schools in the Tacoma School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Dr. Dolores Silas High School employs 48.2 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Dr. Dolores Silas High School is $17,246, which is the 7^th highest among 9 high schools in the Tacoma School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Dr. Dolores Silas High School:

SchoolDigger ranks Dr. Dolores Silas High School 278^th of 437 Washington public high schools. (See Dr. Dolores Silas High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Tacoma School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Tacoma School District 152^nd of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Dr. Dolores Silas High School

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Rank History for all students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	44.86	238^th	390	39.0%
2005	38.61	272^nd	394	31.0%
2006	36.75	286^th	395	27.6%
2007	52.04	227^th	399	43.1%
2008	46.26	254^th	396	35.9%
2009	48.61	239^th	402	40.5%
2010	62.20	179^th	423	57.7%
2011	55.54	179^th	440	59.3%
2012	61.43	152^nd	450	66.2%
2013	62.63	165^th	454	63.7%
2015	48.60	156^th	341	54.3%
2016	73.40	66^th	306	78.4%
2018	51.26	177^th	315	43.8%
2019	35.48	287^th	417	31.2%
2021	31.62	313^th	455	31.2%
2022	51.40	203^rd	434	53.2%
2023	37.58	279^th	442	36.9%
2024	37.64	278^th	437	36.4%

See the entire list of Washington High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2019	17.13	147^th	163	9.8%
2021	19.16	172^nd	195	11.8%
2022	28.91	137^th	179	23.5%
2023	11.44	159^th	166	4.2%
2024	12.53	149^th	161	7.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	35.39	46^th	69	33.3%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	47.51	74^th	139	46.8%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	50.25	126^th	227	44.5%
2019	34.61	247^th	344	28.2%
2021	29.78	292^nd	392	25.5%
2022	30.60	266^th	370	28.1%
2023	35.20	243^rd	362	32.9%
2024	28.58	272^nd	356	23.6%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	71.06	12^th	43	72.1%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	49.91	138^th	243	43.2%
2019	40.43	231^st	358	35.5%
2021	36.97	247^th	390	36.7%
2022	54.11	161^st	368	56.3%
2023	45.15	195^th	357	45.4%
2024	37.54	225^th	347	35.2%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Military Connected students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2021	15.87	43^rd	47	8.5%
2023	10.55	31^st	31	0.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Military Connected Students!

Rank History for Male students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	45.71	157^th	254	38.2%
2019	28.64	272^nd	355	23.4%
2021	25.99	309^th	395	21.8%
2022	42.86	208^th	363	42.7%
2023	25.92	272^nd	358	24.0%
2024	33.45	247^th	362	31.8%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	54.75	44^th	87	49.4%
2019	41.78	75^th	121	38.0%
2021	24.26	105^th	136	22.8%
2022	47.93	67^th	124	46.0%
2023	26.84	86^th	118	27.1%
2024	48.04	60^th	113	46.9%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	52.97	24^th	54	55.6%
2019	12.58	84^th	86	2.3%
2021	14.44	105^th	111	5.4%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	52.65	71^st	156	54.5%
2019	26.43	188^th	241	22.0%
2021	53.48	115^th	278	58.6%
2022	37.91	159^th	261	39.1%
2023	42.26	131^st	249	47.4%
2024	9.95	245^th	248	1.2%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked High Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	43.63	147^th	222	33.8%
2019	36.73	264^th	382	30.9%
2021	31.62	292^nd	413	29.3%
2022	53.60	177^th	390	54.6%
2023	33.67	266^th	379	29.8%
2024	41.77	229^th	374	38.8%

See the entire list of Best Washington High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 4)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

My son is just finishing his Junior year at Wilson (he has been enrolled since his Freshman year), and we have had nothing but positive experiences there. I have attended every Open House and been in contact with all of his teachers, and they are of very high quality. My son is involved in AP and Honors classes, so those are the teachers I'm familiar with. The other thing I noticed is that the teachers at this school are mostly all very tenured, meaning they have been with the school for a long time. I think that speaks volumes about the atmosphere itself. Also, I really like that the class sizes are smaller than average. We moved here from the Puyallup district his Freshman year, and I have to admit that I was apprehensive. Puyallup has always had the reputation for some of the best schools around. However, after finishing his Freshman year, even my son had to agree that Wilson was a step up from anything he had experienced in education thus far. I also appreciate that it is a diverse environment, which I think is crucial for all kids to be exposed to. The extracurricular sports are also well organized and participated in. The coaches have been fantastic (Cross-Country and Track). The only department I see a drawback in is the Art department. As an Art major myself, I was sorely disappointed in the Art instruction. However, my son's majors have been in Math, Science, and History so this hasn't played a major role in HIS education. If your child is gifted in the area of the Arts, I would suggest checking out Tacoma School of the Arts, as well. Overall, I've been extremely happy with this school, and I highly recommend it! Close Quote

Enrollment information for Dr. Dolores Silas High School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	1322	238	208	29	22	n/a	n/a	0	1819
1989	1323	239	208	37	11	n/a	n/a	0	1818
1990	1255	212	205	36	9	n/a	n/a	0	1717
1991	1194	221	212	32	11	n/a	n/a	0	1670
1992	1201	222	211	38	11	n/a	n/a	0	1683
1993	1203	234	200	43	15	n/a	n/a	0	1695
1994	1242	284	196	59	17	n/a	n/a	0	1798
1995	1241	283	169	63	28	n/a	n/a	0	1784
1996	1241	283	169	63	28	n/a	n/a	0	1784
1997	1303	342	183	56	27	n/a	n/a	0	1911
1998	1281	338	186	52	19	n/a	n/a	0	1876
1999	1295	322	186	58	23	n/a	n/a	0	1884
2000	1286	337	192	62	22	n/a	n/a	0	1899
2001	1283	319	182	65	23	n/a	n/a	0	1872
2002	1273	276	162	67	20	n/a	n/a	0	1798
2003	1273	276	162	67	20	n/a	n/a	0	1798
2004	1230	268	141	61	26	n/a	n/a	0	1726
2005	1133	269	119	63	26	n/a	n/a	0	1610
2006	1009	250	97	60	18	n/a	n/a	0	1434
2007	905	226	81	43	16	n/a	n/a	0	1271
2008	861	194	85	48	19	n/a	n/a	0	1207
2009	888	236	86	64	22	n/a	n/a	0	1296
2010	903	250	86	81	25	n/a	n/a	0	1345
2011	916	189	77	86	19	5	100	0	1392
2012	918	187	86	101	19	11	128	0	1450
2013	857	249	87	93	21	5	28	0	1340
2014	781	227	85	103	16	9	46	0	1267
2015	760	239	93	109	15	10	42	0	1268
2016	741	213	93	109	12	13	63	0	1244
2017	766	211	105	114	15	17	74	0	1302
2018	735	185	123	132	11	15	79	0	1280
2019	730	173	122	160	11	15	114	0	1325
2020	688	157	105	159	10	10	143	1	1273
2021	648	146	100	160	14	8	135	3	1214
2022	611	126	84	145	12	11	137	6	1132
2023	591	121	77	146	8	11	150	10	1114
2024	589	108	79	152	5	17	175	11	1136

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Dr. Dolores Silas High School

Compare

Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1819	81.0	22.4	0
1989	1818	77.0	23.6	n/a
1990	1717	77.3	22.2	0
1991	1670	76.6	21.8	n/a
1992	1683	79.2	21.2	n/a
1993	1695	80.2	21.1	n/a
1994	1798	82.2	21.9	n/a
1995	1784	81.0	22.0	n/a
1996	1784	81.0	22.0	n/a
1997	1911	81.2	23.5	n/a
1998	1876	78.4	23.9	n/a
1999	1884	78.0	24.2	n/a
2000	1899	78.4	24.2	n/a
2001	1872	79.2	23.6	n/a
2002	1798	79.2	22.7	32.8
2003	1798	79.2	22.7	32.8
2004	1726	76.0	22.7	28.9
2005	1610	76.1	21.2	29.9
2006	1434	71.3	20.1	31.7
2007	1271	66.1	19.2	30.4
2008	1207	62.2	19.4	30.7
2009	1296	62.2	20.8	31.7
2010	1345	67.4	19.9	33.6
2011	1392	70.8	19.6	30.1
2012	1450	69.3	20.9	28.6
2013	1340	66.6	20.1	43.7
2014	1267	n/a	n/a	46.1
2015	1268	57.0	22.2	44.8
2016	1244	58.0	21.4	44.1
2017	1302	59.3	21.9	41.2
2018	1280	58.4	21.9	37.3
2019	1325	57.5	23.0	39.3
2020	1273	58.5	21.7	41.4
2021	1214	53.7	22.6	40.3
2022	1132	52.2	21.6	42.7
2023	1114	48.3	23.0	44.9
2024	1136	48.2	23.5	47.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Dr. Dolores Silas High School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1819	81.0	22.4	0
1989	1818	77.0	23.6	n/a
1990	1717	77.3	22.2	0
1991	1670	76.6	21.8	n/a
1992	1683	79.2	21.2	n/a
1993	1695	80.2	21.1	n/a
1994	1798	82.2	21.9	n/a
1995	1784	81.0	22.0	n/a
1996	1784	81.0	22.0	n/a
1997	1911	81.2	23.5	n/a
1998	1876	78.4	23.9	n/a
1999	1884	78.0	24.2	n/a
2000	1899	78.4	24.2	n/a
2001	1872	79.2	23.6	n/a
2002	1798	79.2	22.7	32.8
2003	1798	79.2	22.7	32.8
2004	1726	76.0	22.7	28.9
2005	1610	76.1	21.2	29.9
2006	1434	71.3	20.1	31.7
2007	1271	66.1	19.2	30.4
2008	1207	62.2	19.4	30.7
2009	1296	62.2	20.8	31.7
2010	1345	67.4	19.9	33.6
2011	1392	70.8	19.6	30.1
2012	1450	69.3	20.9	28.6
2013	1340	66.6	20.1	43.7
2014	1267	n/a	n/a	46.1
2015	1268	57.0	22.2	44.8
2016	1244	58.0	21.4	44.1
2017	1302	59.3	21.9	41.2
2018	1280	58.4	21.9	37.3
2019	1325	57.5	23.0	39.3
2020	1273	58.5	21.7	41.4
2021	1214	53.7	22.6	40.3
2022	1132	52.2	21.6	42.7
2023	1114	48.3	23.0	44.9
2024	1136	48.2	23.5	47.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Immunization Rates