Christ the King is a Catholic PreK-8 school in Richland on Long Avenue, operated by the Diocese of Yakima. The parish itself was founded in 1943 to serve workers building the Hanford Engineer Works — Monsignor William J. Sweeney first celebrated Mass under a tent for 150 people; full parish status came in 1946, before the Diocese of Yakima itself was erected in 1951.
In the Tri-Cities, Christ the King's direct peer is St. Joseph School in Kennewick (the other diocesan K-8 option), with the broader Yakima Diocese network including St. Rose of Lima in Ephrata, La Salle High School and St. Joseph/Marquette in Yakima, and St. Joseph in Wenatchee. There is no Catholic high school in the Tri-Cities — graduates of Christ the King typically continue at the area's public high schools (Richland, Hanford, Kamiakin), which the school's reporting reflects: roughly 95 percent of graduates earn honor-roll status at the public high schools they enter afterward.
The school enrolls about 450 students across preschool, a K-5 elementary division, and a separate middle school for grades 6-8, with a 20:1 student-teacher ratio. The program emphasizes faith formation alongside core academics, with art, music, PE, and Spanish; Christ the King draws from Richland, West Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco — making it the de facto regional Catholic elementary for an area without a Catholic high school endpoint.
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