Michael T Simmons Elementary

Michael T Simmons Elementary, a mid-sized elementary campus in Tumwater, Washington, part of Tumwater School District, teaches 457 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 380 students per school, that is 20% bigger than typical.

Across the 14 schools in Tumwater School District (6,350 students total), Michael T Simmons Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, Michael T Simmons Elementary reports that White students make up the majority at 64%. Other groups include 17% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, 5% Asian, 3% Black. By comparison, Thurston County as a whole is about 72% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Michael T Simmons Elementary lists 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.1:1. The state averages around 17.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 44% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, Michael T Simmons Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 51.0%, the actual is 58.9%, a residual of +7.9 points.

In the surrounding community, Thurston County reports that median household earnings sit near $96,563, about 39% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Across Thurston County's 86 public schools (combined enrollment of about 44,412 students), Michael T Simmons Elementary is one campus in the mix.

ESD 113 Consortium Reengagement Program is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.8 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Michael T Simmons Elementary. On composite proficiency, Michael T Simmons Elementary comes 2nd of 6 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 51.7%.

The school occupies a high-density site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Michael T Simmons Elementary's enrollment has ticked down 35% since 2018, when it stood at 699 (now 457). White enrollment moved from 70% to 64% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 19.3:1 in 2018 to 13.1:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.