Challenger Secondary School

Spanaway, WA 98387

Phone: (253) 800-6800
District: Bethel School District

4

GreatSchools Rating

public • Grades 7,8,9,10,11,12 • 346 students

Challenger Secondary School, a public school located in Spanaway, WA, serves grades 7-12 in the Bethel School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 4 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.

Challenger Secondary School is a public school located in Spanaway, WA. 346 students attend Challenger Secondary School.

School Ratings

Category Rating Details
Test Scores 3/10 The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Smarter Balanced Assessment data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and using 2025 Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
College Readiness 7/10 The College Readiness Rating uses this high school's graduation rates, college entrance exam participation and performance, or AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment participation to determine how well schools are preparing students for success in college and beyond. The College Readiness Rating was created using 2017 Average SAT score data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, using the following data from the 2021 Civil Rights Data Collection: percentage of students enrolled in IB, AP or Dual Enrollment classes in grades 9-12, using 2025 4-year high school graduation rate data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and using 2026 demographic data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Student Growth 4/10 The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

Posted: July 13, 2025

My niece attended Challenger because her high school expelled her for not attending class, being disorderly, etc. She was in "bad girl" mode at the time so the school district sent her there. Niece told us the kids don't care there, no one does anything if they don't have to, drugs are shared along with alcohol as the students laugh at the establishment and their supposed belief in the system.
This school has the reputation of being a place where they send bad kids, kids that don't pull their own "weight" in regular schools. Challenger IS NOT the rosy, effective school they are touting on their website. Have you noticed they don't have a single negative review? I'm willing to wager it's cuz they hand pick the reviews they want to want to show to the public. That's deceptive, in my mind.
Anyway, think long and hard before you send you student there. It's not what the publicity says it is.
There is a section on writing a review on their school where they basically tell you what to say. True! Hmm.

Posted: September 3, 2014

I've been going to this school since 9th grade. I'm now in 11th. I first started here because I didn't like how long regular school days are. Now that I've been going here I went from C's to pretty much all A's. I also hated school in general when I first started going and now I enjoy going to school and talking to all my teachers and having a good time and learning in the process. You really get to know all your teachers and the staff. Mr. Moon is a phenomenal math teacher and helped me understand every concept we went over. The man is truly a genius. Mr. Foote is great personas his class is life changing. Frankly all the teachers should be praised for excellence. When people learn I go here they think I'm mentally retarded or something but in reality this is a paradise. Nobody knows just how Great it is until they get inside and experience it for themselves. It should be recognized but the staff members just care about helping the students graduate and plan out theirs lives to achieve their goals and to promote excellence. They are the unsung heroes of district. Never, will you find a better community of people.

Posted: June 6, 2013

As a soon to be graduate of Challenger, I really enjoyed going to this school. I believe this school is not recognized as much as it should be. It offers great alternatives for students who can not attend a traditional high school. 90% of the staff here is wonderful including, Ms. Love (secretary), Ms. Von Stein (academic counselor) and 2 math teachers: Mr Moon, and Mr. Nelson. I can tell that the principle may mean well, but his lack of understanding family situations irritated me beyond belief. My parents were greatly disappointed in him, and his lack of understanding when it came to family emergencies, and absences. Overall, I loved Challenger.

Posted: November 10, 2011

I am a proud graduate of Challenger school class of 1993. At this school there were no peer pressure or pressure at all from staff, academics or anything. This school made me who I am now an Arson Investigator in my hometown and considered an expert witness to any and all fire/arson related investigations. While in school there I wrote my first book titled Washington State History, I don't know if its still there but that experience also led me to my present career as an investigator. I Want to thank the whole staff for the great year and the tremendous knowledge that I have acquired from your expertise. Thank You!!

Posted: January 4, 2011

My son was at a local high school and not wanting to go. Got him in Challenger and he is actually happy to go to school! Got good grades on math tests!!! He has incentive now to go to school and get into a college career. Thank you!

Posted: October 20, 2010

This is the only school in the District that has improved their test scores every year. They just got an award from the State for it too. If you want your child to gradutate and want them to pass the state tests- Put them in Challenger. The Bethel Online program is also awesome. One of my friends sons went into that program because he could not go to school and he has done very well.

Reviews provided by GreatSchools™

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