Christensen Elementary

Christensen Elementary, a medium-sized K-5 school in Tacoma, Washington, overseen by Franklin Pierce School District, teaches 346 students, covering grades K through 5.

Franklin Pierce School District runs 14 schools in total, collectively educating 7,187 students. Christensen Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Christensen Elementary lists that 32% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder comes out to 19% White, 16% multiracial, 16% Black, 12% Pacific Islander. The wider county runs roughly 13% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 74% of students at Christensen Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is above Pierce County's rate of about 50%.

After controlling for student poverty, Christensen Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 30.4%; this one delivers 32.8%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Pierce County indicate median household income runs about $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Pierce County runs 287 public schools (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students), of which Christensen Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: James Sales Elementary, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Christensen Elementary at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 34.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 25%: 460 students in 2018 compared to 346 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 27% to 19% across the same window. Class-load math has fell: from 18.4:1 in 2018 to 15.0:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.