Why is Interlake High School in Bellevue rated so low (6/10) in Greatschools (Seattle: credit)

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When I see the rating of Interlake High School in Greatschools, it is only 6 out of 10. This by itself is a mediocre score, and it seems the school is average. But elsewhere (other websites/ranking lists) I heard good things about this school. Why this discrepancy? Is Interlake High really good or is it more hype?

I am coming from a different state, and in that state there are many schools with greatschools rating of 10/10. I am thinking of admitting my daughter to Interlake, but she has never studied in a school with such low ratings. Will she get a good education here? She is academically strong. She will be joining 9th grade.

[amaiunmei]

The answer to the question largely has to do with perspective.

If you picked up the school and dropped it in Burien or Federal Way and changed nothing else, it would be an 8/10 or 9/10 easily. Bellevue schools are almost uniformly wealthy; Interlake is one of the few places with a larger immigrant class who would be considered "middle class" in just about any other community but are "lower middle class" or "poor" in context of other schools in Bellevue.

[CrazyDonkey]

Greatschools ratings are entirely based on test scores. Test scores are heavily correlated with family income.

[Ira500]

Take a look at the percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunch, and the percentage of students in transitional bilingual programs. Between the two, it's pretty high at Interlake.
So does that mean that your academically inclined daughter won't have opportunities to thrive there? No, it doesn't mean that at all. As CrazyDonkey states, the greatschools rating is entirely based on test scores, based on the percentage of students passing. If you remove the students receiving free lunches, and remove the kids in a transitional bilingual program, how would the rest of the students compare to those at Newport or Bellevue? My guess is about the same or just slightly under, not nearly as dramatic a difference as suggested by the greatschools rating.

[Cedarling]

Interlake is home to BSD's only high school gifted program and draws kids from all over Bellevue and from the region. It also has an IB and AP program. The program has amazing internship opportunities and I believe students are able to take UW classes while in high school (used to be only Bellevue College). For a comparison of how these kids compare to Newport and Bellevue High Schools, Interlake had the most national merit scholar semifinalists this year, surpassing even the prestigious Lakeside school in Seattle.
National Merit Scholarship program announces semifinalists | The Seattle Times

Some school reviews I've read online suggest that there is a rift between the gifted program and other students. Also, it might be worth investigating how many college credits your child can obtain while at school (if that interests your daughter) and what extracurrular activities are available.

[CrazyDonkey]

Also, a "6" is not a "low" rating. It is an "above average" rating. "Low" would be a "1 to 3" rating, it seems to me.

According to U.S. News, which looks at more than test scores, Interlake is the #6 high school in the state. Bellevue is #3 and Newport #4. Roosevelt, which has a "9" Greatschools rating, is #8.

Search Washington High Schools | US News

[Akama13]

My daughter went to Interlake and got a great education. As has been mentioned it offers AP courses as well as an IB programm and running start (taking college classes)). The school offers some interesting classes such as photography or horticulture. The reason it has such "low" ratings is because of the number of poor students and/or ESL learners. But make no mistake, it's still Bellevue, meaning most students are not exactly economically disadvantaged. I actually think it's a truly diverse school,not as in code for poor or black, but as in students from all backgrounds. We went out of our way and registered our daughter through open enrollment in 10th grade for her to be able to attend as it wasn't our neighborhood school.

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Thanks to all for your responses.