Salish Coast Elementary

Salish Coast Elementary is a K-5 school of medium-sized scale in Port Townsend, Washington, operated by Port Townsend School District, enrolling 528 students in grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 39% larger than the typical public school in Washington, which averages around 380 students.

Salish Coast Elementary is one of 4 schools operated by Port Townsend School District, a district that teaches 1,277 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Salish Coast Elementary records that 75% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder breaks down as 12% Hispanic, 11% multiracial. By comparison, Jefferson County as a whole is about 86% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Salish Coast Elementary has 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 16.9:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 51% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Salish Coast Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 45.9%; this one delivers 53.5%.

In the broader community, census data for Jefferson County shows median household earnings sit near $74,048, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. In all, Jefferson County runs 13 public schools (combined enrollment of about 2,670 students), of which Salish Coast Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Port Townsend High School, roughly 1.2 miles away. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Salish Coast Elementary comes 2nd of 5 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 45.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-based area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Salish Coast Elementary has expanded 55%, going from 341 students in 2018 to 528 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 84% to 75% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 13.5:1 in 2018 to 16.9:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Salish Coast Elementary community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.