Fern Hill Elementary School

Fern Hill Elementary School is one of the compact K-5 schools in Tacoma, Washington, run under Tacoma School District, with 311 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5.

Tacoma School District runs 66 schools in total, collectively educating 28,900 students. Fern Hill Elementary School is one of those campuses.

In terms of who attends, Fern Hill Elementary School logs that the largest single group is Hispanic at 38%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder is composed of 20% White, 16% multiracial, 10% Black, 8% Asian. By comparison, Pierce County as a whole is about 13% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 18.2:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Fern Hill Elementary School higher than the state norm the norm. About 71% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Pierce County (around 50%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Fern Hill Elementary School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 32.5%; this one delivers 45.7%, a residual of +13.1 points.

In the broader community, census data for Pierce County shows median household income runs about $99,564, about 31% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Fern Hill Elementary School is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

Nearest neighbor: Baker Middle School, around 0.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Fern Hill Elementary School at 2nd of 9; the average score across the group is 32.7%.

Fern Hill Elementary School operates from a metropolitan location.

Over the past 7-year window. Fern Hill Elementary School's enrollment has changed only slightly since 2018, when it stood at 306 (now 311). Hispanic enrollment moved from 27% to 38% across the same window. Class-load math has widened: from 16.9:1 in 2018 to 18.2:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.