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What's the most underrated thing about Chester H Thompson Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
688
Elementary
DISTRICT 409 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530048000121
Chester H Thompson Elementary
303 159TH ST E, TACOMA, WA 98445 · (253) 800-5800 · Pierce County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL688 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 28% of Washington public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Washington public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.8:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
462 students
DISTRICT 59% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 143 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 115 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 108 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 99 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 106 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 117 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (143) is 22% larger than its 5th grade class (117).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
39.7%
WA avg 58.4% . -2.2pp since 2014
Math
36.1%
WA avg 51.2% . -7.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 7 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.7% | 36.1% |
| 2023-24 | 43.3% | 35.7% |
| 2022-23 | 39.8% | 38.2% |
| 2021-22 | 48.9% | 36.9% |
| 2018-19 | 66.5% | 66.5% |
| 2017-18 | 73.9% | 65.2% |
| 2016-17 | 72.3% | 63.8% |
| 2015-16 | 63.2% | 53.0% |
| 2014-15 | 41.9% | 43.5% |
% 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
38.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 39% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 35% 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 Chester H Thompson Elementary
Chester H Thompson Elementary's state test result (38.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester H Thompson Elementary this school | 688 | 67.2% | 38.7% |
| Chinook Elementary School AUBURN | 700 | 62.7% | 33.6% |
| Discovery Elementary Everett | 648 | 63.4% | 30.3% |
| Pioneer Elementary School AUBURN | 621 | 72.0% | 29.8% |
| Lydia Hawk Elementary Lacey | 496 | 66.9% | 33.4% |
| Terminal Park Elementary School AUBURN | 610 | 69.3% | 41.8% |
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 Chester H Thompson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 38.7% | #654 of 936 | #106 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.1% | #751 of 1,103 ▼ 23 | #105 of 142 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #754 of 1,102 ▼ 112 | #107 of 142 ▼ 17 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -5.0pp | #140 of 928 | #25 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 688 | #35 of 1,268 | #8 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.6:1 | #729 of 1,085 | #87 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.6% | #324 of 1,088 | #80 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 67.2% | #311 of 1,169 | #37 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +10.8% | #120 of 257 | #19 of 43 |
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
688
-30 (-4%) vs 2020
+38% since 1990-91, when it was 500
Student : Teacher
16.6:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 688 | 41.4 | 16.6:1 | 67% (462) |
| 2023-24 | 648 | 45.2 | 14.3:1 | 67% (432) |
| 2022-23 | 624 | 44.9 | 13.9:1 | 68% (426) |
| 2020-21 | 718 | 52 | 13.8:1 | 64% (461) |
| 2017-18 | 621 | 37.6 | 16.5:1 | 69% (427) |
| 2015-16 | 554 | 34 | 16.3:1 | 67% (373) |
| 2010-11 | 625 | 38 | 16.4:1 | 41% (258) |
| 2000-01 | 458 | 24 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 500 | 25 | 20.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Chester H Thompson Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 11% (621 to 688); teachers up 10% (37.6 to 41.4).
About Chester H Thompson Elementary
Chester H Thompson Elementary is a high-enrollment elementary school in Washington, with an address in TACOMA. It reports enrollment of 688 students in pre-K through 5. The school is 81% above the average for elementary schools in Washington.
Within Bethel School District, Chester H Thompson Elementary is one of 39 schools. The district enrolls 21,732 students.
The largest group at Chester H Thompson Elementary is Hispanic students, at 49%. The school is also 20% White, 14% multiracial, 7% Pacific Islander, and 7% Black. That is higher than the 13% Hispanic share among all Pierce County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 69%.
There are about 16.6 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Chester H Thompson Elementary, which has 41.4. The average ratio among elementary schools in Washington is similar, at 17.3:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Chester H Thompson Elementary is about 67%. Public schools in Pierce County average 50%.
Chester H Thompson Elementary earns a C on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 28% of Washington public elementary schools.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 35.1% at Chester H Thompson Elementary; the school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 38.7%.
The school's county is Pierce County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $99,564 a year, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Chester H Thompson Elementary shares Pierce County with 286 other public schools.
Of the public schools around it, Chester H Thompson Elementary is closest to Thompson Preschool, less than a tenth of a mile away. Chester H Thompson Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Chester H Thompson Elementary's average proficiency of 38.7% compares with 38.9% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
Enrollment fell 4% over 4 years, reaching 688 in 2024-25. Its ratio of students to teachers was 13.8:1 in 2020-21, and 16.6:1 in 2024-25.
The Chester H Thompson Elementary discussion page is a place for homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Bethel School District
- Graham Kapowsin High SchoolHigh · 2,087 students
- Spanaway Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,787 students
- Bethel High SchoolHigh · 1,688 students
- Liberty Middle SchoolMiddle · 857 students
- Spanaway Middle SchoolMiddle · 766 students
- Cedarcrest Middle SchoolMiddle · 765 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
- Thompson Preschool0.1 mi · 227
- Spanaway Middle School0.2 mi · 766
- Acceleration Academy0.5 mi · 450
- Spanaway Elementary0.7 mi · 371
- BETHEL HOPE EARLY LEARNING CENTER0.7 mi · 163
- Spanaway Lake High School0.8 mi · 1,787
Frequently asked questions
About Chester H Thompson ElementaryHow large is Chester H Thompson Elementary?
Chester H Thompson Elementary enrolls approximately 688 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Chester H Thompson Elementary serve?
Chester H Thompson Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Chester H Thompson Elementary?
Approximately 16.6:1 students per teacher at Chester H Thompson Elementary.
How diverse is Chester H Thompson Elementary?
Chester H Thompson Elementary reports a student body of 20% White, 49% Hispanic, 7% Black, 2% Asian, 14% Two or more.
Who oversees Chester H Thompson Elementary?
Chester H Thompson Elementary is overseen by Bethel School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.