Fort Stevens Elementary

Fort Stevens Elementary is a moderately sized elementary school in Yelm, Washington, run under Yelm School District. The school teaches 462 students in grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, Washington's public schools average about 380 students each, so Fort Stevens Elementary sits 22% larger than that benchmark.

Yelm School District comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 5,671 students; Fort Stevens Elementary is among them.

Demographically, Fort Stevens Elementary records that the largest single group is White, at 55% of enrollment. The remainder reads as 25% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 3% Black, 3% Asian. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 72%.

In terms of school funding signals, Fort Stevens Elementary records 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.3:1. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 58% of students at Fort Stevens Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Thurston County runs at roughly 43%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Fort Stevens Elementary 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 41.1%; this one delivers 55.1%, a residual of +14.0 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Thurston County) reports that median household earnings sit near $96,563, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Fort Stevens Elementary is one of 86 public schools in Thurston County (combined enrollment of about 44,412 students).

Nearest neighbor: Yelm Extension School, around 0.8 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Fort Stevens Elementary ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 46.7%.

Fort Stevens Elementary operates from a small-town location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Fort Stevens Elementary has contracted 13%, going from 533 students in 2018 to 462 in 2025. The White share of enrollment declined from 67% to 55% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.