Graham Elementary

Graham Elementary is one of the mid-sized primary schools in Graham, Washington, part of Bethel School District, with 428 students on its rolls from grades K through 5.

Bethel School District comprises 39 schools with combined enrollment of 21,732 students; Graham Elementary is among them.

In terms of who attends, Graham Elementary lists that 49% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 18% multiracial, 17% Hispanic, 5% Black, 5% Pacific Islander. By comparison, Pierce County as a whole is about 64% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.2:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 52% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Graham Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 45.3%, the actual is 55.4%, a residual of +10.2 points.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Pierce County indicate median household earnings sit near $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Graham Elementary is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

Nearest neighbor: Graham Kapowsin High School, around 1.0 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Graham Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 46.0%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Graham Elementary has decreased 39%, going from 706 students in 2018 to 428 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 64% to 49% across the same window. Class-load math has fell: from 18.0:1 in 2018 to 15.2:1 in 2025.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.