Harvard Elementary

Harvard Elementary, a middle-of-the-pack K-5 school in Tacoma, Washington, overseen by Franklin Pierce School District, works with 445 students, covering grades K through 5.

Harvard Elementary is one of 14 schools operated by Franklin Pierce School District, a district that caters to 7,187 students overall.

Demographically, Harvard Elementary logs that 60% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school records 13% White, 10% Black, 9% multiracial, 5% 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 currently runs with 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Harvard Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 76% of students at Harvard Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Pierce County (around 50%), the school's rate is north of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Harvard Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 29.4%; this one delivers 27.3%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Pierce County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $99,564 per year, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. In all, Pierce County runs 287 public schools (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students), of which Harvard Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Larchmont Elementary School, around 1.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Harvard Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Harvard Elementary at 9th of 9; the average score across the group is 36.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a commuter-belt area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Harvard Elementary has held roughly steady, going from 435 students in 2018 to 445 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment rose from 5% to 10% over that span. Class-load math has fell: from 17.6:1 in 2018 to 15.6:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the Harvard Elementary community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.