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What's the most underrated thing about Blix Elementary School that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
442
Elementary
DISTRICT 356 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TACOMA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530870001496
Blix Elementary School
1302 E 38th St, Tacoma, WA 98404 · (253) 571-7400 · Pierce County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL442 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.2:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
72%
318 students
DISTRICT 57% · STATE 51%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 21 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 75 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 65 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 73 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 70 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (75) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (72).
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 68% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
Smarter Balanced + WCAS 2024-25 . % Met or Exceeded StandardEnglish Language Arts
33.0%
WA avg 58.4% . +6.8pp since 2014
Math
24.5%
WA avg 51.2% . -0.2pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are up about 7 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.0% | 24.5% |
| 2023-24 | 26.6% | 25.1% |
| 2022-23 | 21.2% | 17.8% |
| 2021-22 | 26.4% | 18.2% |
| 2018-19 | 42.0% | 32.8% |
| 2017-18 | 34.5% | 29.4% |
| 2016-17 | 35.1% | 42.8% |
| 2015-16 | 38.1% | 34.0% |
| 2014-15 | 26.3% | 24.7% |
% Met or Exceeded Standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Smarter Balanced + WCAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
29.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 32% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Washington's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Blix Elementary School
Blix Elementary School's state test result (29.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blix Elementary School this school | 442 | 71.9% | 29.0% |
| Scenic Hill Elementary School Kent | 481 | 73.8% | 31.4% |
| Sheridan Elementary School Tacoma | 525 | 69.1% | 30.7% |
| Seahurst Elementary School Burien | 405 | 69.6% | 24.2% |
| Valhalla Elementary School AUBURN | 517 | 75.2% | 35.4% |
| Cedarhurst Elementary Burien | 399 | 69.9% | 26.5% |
Matched among Washington elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Blix Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.0% | #812 of 936 | #129 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.5% | #968 of 1,103 ▼ 9 | #131 of 142 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.0% | #894 of 1,102 ▲ 99 | #123 of 142 ▲ 15 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.5pp | #195 of 928 | #35 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 442 | #478 of 1,268 | #71 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #851 of 1,085 | #106 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 74.1% | #162 of 1,088 | #52 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.9% | #224 of 1,169 | #21 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.7% | #361 of 778 | #43 of 91 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
442
-56 (-11%) vs 2020
-5% since 1990-91, when it was 466
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 15.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 442 | 25.8 | 17.1:1 | 72% (318) |
| 2023-24 | 422 | 25.7 | 16.4:1 | 71% (301) |
| 2022-23 | 475 | 30.5 | 15.6:1 | 69% (326) |
| 2020-21 | 498 | 33 | 15.1:1 | 73% (366) |
| 2017-18 | 537 | 31.9 | 16.8:1 | 77% (413) |
| 2015-16 | 492 | 30 | 16.4:1 | 82% (401) |
| 2010-11 | 346 | 23 | 15.0:1 | 79% (272) |
| 2000-01 | 260 | 17 | 15.3:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 466 | 23 | 20.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Blix Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (537 to 442); teachers down 19% (31.9 to 25.8).
About Blix Elementary School
Blix Elementary School operates as a mid-sized elementary school in Tacoma, Washington. The school runs pre-K through 5 and enrolls 442 students.
Tacoma School District is made up of 66 schools with 28,900 students in all.
Hispanic students account for 42% of enrollment at Blix Elementary School, more than any other group. Other students are 20% White, 12% multiracial, 12% Asian, and 10% Black. By comparison, Pierce County residents are about 13% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Blix Elementary School scores 74%.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 17.1:1. The school has 25.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. It is about the same as the 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington. Federal data show 72% of students (318) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 50% average for public schools in Pierce County, the school's rate is higher.
Test results at Blix Elementary School are 2.9 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (29.0% actual, 31.9% predicted).
In Pierce County, the median household earns about $99,564 a year, about 31% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Pierce County has 287 public schools with about 138,462 students, including Blix Elementary School.
Lister Elementary School is about 0.7 miles from Blix Elementary School, the shortest distance to any other public school. The five-mile area around Blix Elementary School holds at least 8 other public schools. The school's 29.0% average proficiency ranks 4th among 8 nearby schools.
The federal government classifies Blix Elementary School's location as City: Mid-size.
Over 4 years, enrollment fell by 56 students, from 498 to 442. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio increased to 17.1:1, from 15.1:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Blix Elementary School. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Pierce County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
930,319
Census ACS
Median income
$99,564
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
287
138,462 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Tacoma School District
- Stadium High SchoolHigh · 1,700 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,556 students
- Mount Tahoma High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Dr. Dolores Silas High SchoolHigh · 1,160 students
- Baker Middle SchoolMiddle · 687 students
- Tacoma School of the ArtsHigh · 658 students
Other schools in Tacoma
- Stadium High SchoolHigh · 1,700 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,556 students
- Mount Tahoma High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Dr. Dolores Silas High SchoolHigh · 1,160 students
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 989 students
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
Nearby schools
- Lister Elementary School0.7 mi · 376
- Roosevelt Elementary School0.7 mi · 270
- Impact Public Schools0.7 mi · 232
- First Creek Middle School0.9 mi · 584
- Lyon Elementary School1.0 mi · 381
- Sheridan Elementary School1.0 mi · 525
Frequently asked questions
About Blix Elementary SchoolHow large is Blix Elementary School?
Blix Elementary School enrolls approximately 442 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Blix Elementary School serve?
Blix Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Blix Elementary School have?
Blix Elementary School employs 26 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.1:1.
How diverse is Blix Elementary School?
Blix Elementary School reports a student body of 20% White, 42% Hispanic, 10% Black, 12% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Who oversees Blix Elementary School?
Blix Elementary School is overseen by Tacoma School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.