1
What's the one class at North Star Elementary every student should take?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
446
Elementary
DISTRICT 409 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530048002747
North Star Elementary
7719 224th Street East, Graham, WA 98338 · (253) 800-8800 · Pierce County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL446 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.8:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
52%
232 students
DISTRICT 59% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 59 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 62 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 82 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 73 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 87 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 32% smaller than its 5th grade class (87).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 75% · 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
52.6%
WA avg 58.4% . +7.0pp since 2014
Math
50.4%
WA avg 51.2% . +0.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 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 7 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 52.6% | 50.4% |
| 2023-24 | 54.4% | 50.2% |
| 2022-23 | 50.2% | 55.6% |
| 2021-22 | 52.5% | 52.1% |
| 2018-19 | 59.1% | 52.6% |
| 2017-18 | 55.5% | 53.2% |
| 2016-17 | 49.4% | 50.2% |
| 2015-16 | 59.1% | 55.3% |
| 2014-15 | 45.6% | 50.0% |
% 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
53.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.3%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 North Star Elementary
North Star Elementary's state test result (53.7% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Star Elementary this school | 446 | 52.0% | 53.7% |
| Cougar Creek Elementary School Arlington | 422 | 50.2% | 41.3% |
| Lakewood Elementary School Marysville | 458 | 54.1% | 24.9% |
| Hidden Creek Elementary School PORT ORCHARD | 439 | 48.1% | 42.5% |
| Foothills Elementary Buckley | 470 | 49.8% | 53.0% |
| McKenna Elementary McKenna | 418 | 49.3% | 51.1% |
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 North Star Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 53.7% | #373 of 936 | #60 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 50.4% | #442 of 1,103 ▼ 12 | #61 of 142 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.6% | #453 of 1,102 ▼ 39 | #66 of 142 ▼ 6 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.8pp | #336 of 928 | #59 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 446 | #459 of 1,268 | #65 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #236 of 1,085 | #20 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.1% | #477 of 1,088 | #103 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.0% | #602 of 1,169 | #77 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.3% | #620 of 778 | #71 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
446
-6 (-1%) vs 2020
-20% since 2000-01, when it was 555
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 12.9:1
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 | 446 | 30.7 | 14.5:1 | 52% (232) |
| 2023-24 | 463 | 30.6 | 15.2:1 | 50% (231) |
| 2022-23 | 469 | 32.6 | 14.4:1 | 49% (229) |
| 2020-21 | 452 | 35 | 12.9:1 | 47% (214) |
| 2017-18 | 481 | 28.9 | 16.6:1 | 44% (214) |
| 2015-16 | 483 | 30 | 16.1:1 | 42% (201) |
| 2010-11 | 656 | 32 | 20.5:1 | 28% (183) |
| 2000-01 | 555 | 27 | 20.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for North Star Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (481 to 446); teachers up 6% (28.9 to 30.7).
About North Star Elementary
North Star Elementary is one of the public schools in Graham, Washington. It is a medium-sized elementary school. The school serves 446 students in kindergarten through 5 in 2024-25.
Federal data list 39 schools in Bethel School District, with 21,732 students enrolled.
At North Star Elementary, White students make up 56% of the student body. The remaining shares are 18% Hispanic, 16% multiracial, 4% Pacific Islander, and 2% Black. Pick two students at random and there is a 62% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school employs the equivalent of 30.7 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 14.5:1. That is lower than the 17.3:1 average for elementary schools in Washington. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 52%. For comparison, public schools in Pierce County average 50%.
North Star Elementary is 8.4 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (53.7% versus 45.3%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Washington.
North Star Elementary is located in Pierce County, where the median household income is $99,564, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. North Star Elementary is one of 287 public schools in the county.
The next-closest public school is Bethel Virtual Academy, about 1.0 miles away. North Star Elementary is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Nearby schools average 47.3% on proficiency, and North Star Elementary is above that at 53.7%.
North Star Elementary has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 452 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 446. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 12.9:1 to 14.5:1.
Parents and students can post about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater at North Star Elementary. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Bethel School District
- Graham Kapowsin High SchoolHigh · 2,087 students
- Spanaway Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,787 students
- Bethel High SchoolHigh · 1,688 students
- Liberty Middle SchoolMiddle · 857 students
- Spanaway Middle SchoolMiddle · 766 students
- Cedarcrest Middle SchoolMiddle · 765 students
Other schools in Graham
- Graham Kapowsin High SchoolHigh · 2,087 students
- Frontier Middle SchoolMiddle · 620 students
- Cougar Mountain Middle SchoolMiddle · 605 students
- Centennial ElementaryElementary · 540 students
- Nelson Elementary SchoolElementary · 497 students
- Rocky Ridge ElementaryElementary · 430 students
Other North Star Elementary schools
10 other US public schools in 9 states are named North Star Elementary. North Star Elementary is the 5th largest of the 11.
- North Star Elementary SchoolHockessin, DE · 589 students
- North Star Elementary SchoolEL PASO, TX · 552 students
- NORTH STAR ELEMENTARYALBUQUERQUE, NM · 510 students
- North Star ElementaryHUGO, MN · 467 students
- North Star ElementaryVIRGINIA, MN · 389 students
Nearby schools
- Bethel Virtual Academy1.0 mi · 482
- Liberty Middle School1.0 mi · 857
- Pioneer Valley Elementary1.1 mi · 524
- Centennial Elementary1.8 mi · 540
- Graham Elementary1.8 mi · 428
- Frontier Middle School1.9 mi · 620
Frequently asked questions
About North Star ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at North Star Elementary?
North Star Elementary enrolls approximately 446 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does North Star Elementary serve?
North Star Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at North Star Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at North Star Elementary is approximately 14.5:1 (31 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at North Star Elementary?
At North Star Elementary, the student body is approximately 56% White, 18% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 16% Two or more.
What district is North Star Elementary in?
North Star Elementary is part of Bethel School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.