Enrollment
405
Elementary
DISTRICT 517 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PUYALLUP SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530696001033
Karshner Elementary
1328 8th Ave NW, Puyallup, WA 98371 · (253) 841-8736 · Pierce County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL405 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.5:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
54%
218 students
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 51%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
36.8%
WA avg 58.4% . -14.5pp since 2014
Math
32.9%
WA avg 51.2% . -17.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 15 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 18 points.
Source: Smarter Balanced + WCAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
33.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 33% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 44% typical for Washington schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
405
+46 (+13%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
was 14.4:1
% White
38%
was 41%
% Hispanic
36%
was 37%
% Black
7%
was 2%
% Asian
7%
was 4%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Karshner Elementary
Karshner Elementary, a reasonably sized elementary campus in Puyallup, Washington, one of the schools within Puyallup School District, teaches 405 students, covering grades pre-K through 6.
Puyallup School District runs 37 schools in total, collectively educating 23,026 students. Karshner Elementary is one of those campuses.
Demographically, Karshner Elementary logs that the largest single group is White at 38%, but no single group is in the majority. The remainder looks like 36% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, 7% Asian, 7% Black. By comparison, Pierce County as a whole is about 64% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Karshner Elementary has 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.3:1, putting Karshner Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 54% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.
After controlling for student poverty, Karshner Elementary is in the bottom 10% of Washington public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 44.1%; Karshner Elementary posts 33.1%, -10.9 points below that line.
Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Pierce County) logs that median household income runs about $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Karshner Elementary is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).
Nearest neighbor: Aylen Jr High, around 0.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Karshner Elementary comes 7th of 7 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 47.4%.
The school occupies a commuter-belt site.
Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Karshner Elementary has increased 13%, going from 359 students in 2018 to 405 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share rose from 2% to 7%.
On this page, the feed for Karshner Elementary typically covers school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.
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 Puyallup School District
- Puyallup High SchoolHigh · 1,815 students
- Gov John Rogers High SchoolHigh · 1,788 students
- Emerald Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,599 students
- Dessie F Evans ElementaryElementary · 919 students
- Ballou Jr HighMiddle · 852 students
- Doris Stahl Junior HighMiddle · 846 students
Other schools in Puyallup
- Puyallup High SchoolHigh · 1,815 students
- Gov John Rogers High SchoolHigh · 1,788 students
- Emerald Ridge High SchoolHigh · 1,599 students
- Dessie F Evans ElementaryElementary · 919 students
- Ballou Jr HighMiddle · 852 students
- Doris Stahl Junior HighMiddle · 846 students
Nearby schools
- Aylen Jr High0.3 mi · 720
- Maplewood Elementary0.6 mi · 371
- Puyallup High School0.7 mi · 1,815
- PSD Special Services0.9 mi · 52
- Meeker Elementary0.9 mi · 366
- Stewart Elementary1.2 mi · 343
Frequently asked questions
About Karshner ElementaryHow many students attend Karshner Elementary?
Karshner Elementary enrolls approximately 405 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does Karshner Elementary serve?
Karshner Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Karshner Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Karshner Elementary is approximately 14.4:1 (28 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Karshner Elementary?
At Karshner Elementary, the student body is approximately 38% White, 36% Hispanic, 7% Black, 7% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Karshner Elementary?
Karshner Elementary is overseen by Puyallup School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.