1
What tradition at Harbor Heights Elementary School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
397
Elementary
DISTRICT 405 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENINSULA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530669000984
Harbor Heights Elementary School
4002 36th St NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335 · (253) 530-1800 · Pierce County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL397 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of Washington public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-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
16.0:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
21%
83 students
DISTRICT 26% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 1 | 0% |
| Kindergarten | 76 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 73 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 70 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 9% larger than its 5th grade class (70).
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 41% · 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
73.2%
WA avg 58.4% . +6.1pp since 2014
Math
72.7%
WA avg 51.2% . +13.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 73 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 14 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.2% | 72.7% |
| 2023-24 | 76.3% | 72.2% |
| 2022-23 | 69.6% | 69.2% |
| 2021-22 | 68.8% | 63.5% |
| 2018-19 | 68.9% | 62.5% |
| 2017-18 | 62.8% | 57.3% |
| 2016-17 | 63.8% | 65.2% |
| 2015-16 | 62.9% | 63.9% |
| 2014-15 | 67.1% | 59.1% |
% 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
74.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.2%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Harbor Heights Elementary School
Harbor Heights Elementary School's state test result (74.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor Heights Elementary School this school | 397 | 20.9% | 74.3% |
| Washington Elementary School Tacoma | 383 | 20.9% | 70.5% |
| Sherman Elementary School Tacoma | 432 | 19.4% | 70.0% |
| Desert Sky Elementary West Richland | 441 | 20.2% | N/A |
| Silver Beach Elementary School Bellingham | 357 | 23.8% | 68.9% |
| Cottonwood Elementary Kennewick | 474 | 21.1% | N/A |
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 Harbor Heights Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.3% | #95 of 936 | #5 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.7% | #107 of 1,103 ▲ 2 | #8 of 142 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.2% | #118 of 1,102 ▼ 31 | #8 of 142 ▼ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.8pp | #187 of 928 | #34 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 397 | #651 of 1,268 | #90 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.0:1 | #599 of 1,085 | #71 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.2% | #790 of 1,088 | #127 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 20.9% | #1,024 of 1,169 | #139 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -31.8% | #90 of 778 | #3 of 91 |
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
397
-48 (-11%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 481
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
was 15.3:1
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 | 397 | 24.8 | 16.0:1 | 21% (83) |
| 2023-24 | 420 | 26.2 | 16.0:1 | 21% (88) |
| 2022-23 | 433 | 26.4 | 16.4:1 | 20% (86) |
| 2020-21 | 445 | 29 | 15.3:1 | 19% (83) |
| 2017-18 | 582 | 34.9 | 16.7:1 | 26% (154) |
| 2015-16 | 581 | 31 | 18.7:1 | 27% (156) |
| 2010-11 | 575 | 29 | 19.8:1 | 22% (124) |
| 2000-01 | 558 | 29 | 19.2:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 481 | 21 | 22.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Harbor Heights Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 32% (582 to 397); teachers down 29% (34.9 to 24.8).
About Harbor Heights Elementary School
Harbor Heights Elementary School is a mid-sized elementary school in Gig Harbor, Washington. There are 397 students enrolled, covering pre-K through 5.
Harbor Heights Elementary School is one of the 17 schools that make up Peninsula School District (9,015 students in total).
Of every 100 students at Harbor Heights Elementary School, about 69 are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 14% Hispanic, 12% multiracial, 2% Asian, and 2% Black. The diversity index for Harbor Heights Elementary School is 49%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school lists 24.8 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.0:1. Compared with the 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington, this school's ratio is lower. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 21% of the student body. The average for public schools in Pierce County is 50%.
Harbor Heights Elementary School earns an A on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 93% of Washington public elementary schools.
Compared with Washington schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Harbor Heights Elementary School's results are 8.2 points above predicted: 74.3% against 66.2%.
In the wider Pierce County area, median household income comes to about $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Pierce County's 287 public schools enroll about 138,462 students and include Harbor Heights Elementary School.
Harbor Heights Elementary School's closest public school neighbor is Goodman Middle School, about 0.1 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools average 62.1% on proficiency, and Harbor Heights Elementary School is above that at 74.3%.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Large, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment fell 11%.
People who know Harbor Heights Elementary School can post here about 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 Peninsula School District
- Gig Harbor HighHigh · 1,375 students
- Peninsula High SchoolHigh · 1,345 students
- Harbor Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Goodman Middle SchoolMiddle · 519 students
- Swift Water ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Kopachuck Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
Other schools in Gig Harbor
- Gig Harbor HighHigh · 1,375 students
- Peninsula High SchoolHigh · 1,345 students
- Harbor Ridge Middle SchoolMiddle · 627 students
- Goodman Middle SchoolMiddle · 519 students
- Swift Water ElementaryElementary · 519 students
- Kopachuck Middle SchoolMiddle · 516 students
Nearby schools
- Goodman Middle School0.1 mi · 519
- Artondale Elementary School1.3 mi · 413
- Discovery Elementary School2.7 mi · 380
- Gig Harbor High2.7 mi · 1,375
- Henderson Bay Alt High School2.8 mi · 139
- Pioneer Elementary School3.0 mi · 481
Frequently asked questions
About Harbor Heights Elementary SchoolHow many students attend Harbor Heights Elementary School?
Harbor Heights Elementary School enrolls approximately 397 students in grades PK-05.
Is Harbor Heights Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Harbor Heights Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Harbor Heights Elementary School?
Approximately 16.0:1 students per teacher at Harbor Heights Elementary School.
How diverse is Harbor Heights Elementary School?
Harbor Heights Elementary School reports a student body of 69% White, 14% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 12% Two or more.
What district is Harbor Heights Elementary School in?
Harbor Heights Elementary School is part of Peninsula School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.