Medical Lake High School

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Medical Lake High School is a public four-year high school in Medical Lake, Washington. It is the only traditional high school in Medical Lake School District No. 326, near Spokane. The school serves grades 9–12 and had about 511 students in the 2023–24 school year, with a student-to-teacher ratio of about 17:1. The principal is Jeremy Vincent. The campus is open, the colors are cardinal and white, and the mascot is the Cardinal. The school newspaper is the Cardinal Playbook and the yearbook is The Cardinal.

Founded in 1905, the high school moved to a new building in 1958 and was expanded in 1970 as enrollment grew. In 2017, the district received a $1 million STEM grant, and students began receiving personal Chromebooks that September.

The school has faced several incidents: in 2017 a student was investigated over a Google Drive with explicit pictures of classmates; in February 2018 a threat was investigated by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office; in April 2018 a student died and three others were injured in a car crash on the way to a track meet, which sparked the #MedicalLakeStrong movement with support from other local schools. In November 2021 a bombing threat was found.

Enrollment in the district has declined in recent years, aided by more military families living off base as housing at Fairchild Air Force Base privatized, along with a city building moratorium and a slow economy. Enrollment rose in the 1970s (from 487 in 1970 to 650 in 1978) but fell in the 1980s. It was 675 in 2007, 512 in 2012, and about 517 in 2021.

Athletics: Medical Lake competes in the WIAA Class 1A, District 7, in the Northeast 1A League. It used to be in the Great Northern League (2A) and moved to 1A in 2012, joining the NEA.