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
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of Washington public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-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
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, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 65 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 65 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 48 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 56 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 7% larger than its 6th grade class (56).
Student demographics
71%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · 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
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.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 36.8% | 32.9% |
| 2023-24 | 28.9% | 28.0% |
| 2022-23 | 33.0% | 31.9% |
| 2021-22 | 44.2% | 39.8% |
| 2018-19 | 57.2% | 50.5% |
| 2017-18 | 58.1% | 51.0% |
| 2016-17 | 56.4% | 52.5% |
| 2015-16 | 55.4% | 54.8% |
| 2014-15 | 51.3% | 50.5% |
% 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
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 →
Schools most like Karshner Elementary
Karshner Elementary's state test result (33.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karshner Elementary this school | 405 | 53.8% | 33.1% |
| Mountlake Terrace Elementary Mountlake Terrace | 426 | 55.4% | 40.1% |
| Olympic View Elem Oak Harbor | 411 | 57.4% | 45.6% |
| Crestline Elementary School Vancouver | 446 | 52.5% | N/A |
| Lynndale Elementary EDMONDS | 442 | 53.8% | 47.1% |
| Gregory Heights Elementary Burien | 488 | 51.0% | 47.4% |
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 Karshner Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 33.1% | #755 of 936 | #117 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.9% | #822 of 1,103 ▲ 66 | #114 of 142 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #829 of 1,102 ▲ 129 | #118 of 142 ▲ 12 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -7.1pp | #88 of 928 | #14 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 405 | #616 of 1,268 | #87 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.4:1 | #206 of 1,085 | #17 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.7% | #265 of 1,088 | #72 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.8% | #559 of 1,169 | #68 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +12.8% | #102 of 257 | #13 of 43 |
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
405
+67 (+20%) vs 2020
-1% since 1990-91, when it was 411
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
was 14.7:1
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 | 405 | 28.2 | 14.4:1 | 54% (218) |
| 2023-24 | 414 | 26.8 | 15.4:1 | 57% (234) |
| 2022-23 | 380 | 24 | 15.8:1 | 53% (202) |
| 2020-21 | 338 | 23 | 14.7:1 | 47% (160) |
| 2017-18 | 359 | 25 | 14.4:1 | 52% (188) |
| 2015-16 | 323 | 16 | 20.2:1 | 60% (193) |
| 2010-11 | 358 | 17 | 21.1:1 | 54% (192) |
| 2000-01 | 401 | 21 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 411 | 20 | 20.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Karshner Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 13% (359 to 405); teachers up 13% (25 to 28.2).
About Karshner Elementary
Federal records list Karshner Elementary as an elementary school in Puyallup, Washington. The school had 405 students in pre-K through 6 in 2024-25.
Within Puyallup School District, Karshner Elementary is one of 37 schools. The district enrolls 23,026 students.
Enrollment at Karshner Elementary is mixed, with White students the largest group at 38%. The school is also 36% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, 7% Asian, and 7% Black. That is lower than the 64% White share among all Pierce County residents. The chance that two students picked at random at Karshner Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 71%.
Staffing totals 28.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 14.4:1. That ratio is under the 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Karshner Elementary is 54%.
Karshner Elementary is graded F by allk12, scoring above 3% of Washington public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Karshner Elementary ranks in the bottom 10% in Washington. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 33.1%, against a prediction of 44.1%.
In Pierce County (population about 930,319), median household income is about $99,564, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 31% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Karshner Elementary is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County, which together enroll about 138,462 students.
The closest public school to Karshner Elementary is Aylen Jr High, about 0.3 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 47.4%, higher than Karshner Elementary's 33.1%.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Karshner Elementary saw enrollment rise 20% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Discussions about Karshner Elementary may include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome 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 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.