Point Defiance Elementary School

Set in Tacoma, Washington, Point Defiance Elementary School is a modestly sized K-5 school, overseen by Tacoma School District. It instructs 301 students across grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 380 students per school, that is 21% below typical.

Tacoma School District runs 66 schools in total, collectively educating 28,900 students. Point Defiance Elementary School is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Point Defiance Elementary School reports that 63% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school records 13% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 5% Asian, 4% Black. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the income-and-resources front, Point Defiance Elementary School lists 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 16.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.3:1 average. About 34% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Pierce County runs at roughly 50%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Point Defiance Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 57.5%, the actual is 62.9%, a residual of +5.4 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Pierce County indicate median household earnings sit near $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Point Defiance Elementary School is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

The closest other public school is Truman Middle School, roughly 0.7 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Point Defiance Elementary School at 3rd of 6; the average score across the group is 54.9%.

Point Defiance Elementary School operates from a city-core location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 23%: 393 students in 2018 compared to 301 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 18.9:1 in 2018 to 16.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Point Defiance Elementary School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.