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Does Sherman Elementary School have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
432
Elementary
DISTRICT 356 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TACOMA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530870001501
Sherman Elementary School
4415 N 38th St, Tacoma, WA 98407 · (253) 571-5488 · Pierce County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL432 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.2:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
84 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 74 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 63 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 66 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 75 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 79 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 75 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (74) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (75).
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · 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
71.1%
WA avg 58.4% . +22.4pp since 2014
Math
61.2%
WA avg 51.2% . -0.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 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 22 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 71.1% | 61.2% |
| 2023-24 | 72.8% | 66.7% |
| 2022-23 | 74.3% | 62.2% |
| 2021-22 | 72.0% | 65.6% |
| 2018-19 | 81.0% | 69.0% |
| 2017-18 | 77.4% | 71.7% |
| 2016-17 | 74.3% | 65.4% |
| 2015-16 | 71.0% | 66.8% |
| 2014-15 | 48.7% | 61.3% |
% 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
70.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.2%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 70% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 67% 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 Sherman Elementary School
Sherman Elementary School's state test result (70.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman Elementary School this school | 432 | 19.4% | 70.0% |
| Desert Sky Elementary West Richland | 441 | 20.2% | N/A |
| Fall City Elementary FALL CITY | 456 | 16.9% | 78.3% |
| Harbor Heights Elementary School Gig Harbor | 397 | 20.9% | 74.3% |
| Helen Baller Elem Camas | 487 | 21.8% | N/A |
| Washington Elementary School Tacoma | 383 | 20.9% | 70.5% |
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 Sherman Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 70.0% | #139 of 936 | #13 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.2% | #242 of 1,103 ▼ 80 | #29 of 142 ▼ 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.1% | #140 of 1,102 ▼ 17 | #13 of 142 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.6pp | #250 of 928 | #42 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 432 | #511 of 1,268 | #75 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.1:1 | #1,062 of 1,085 | #141 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 43.9% | #866 of 1,088 | #132 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 19.4% | #1,042 of 1,169 | #143 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.6% | #180 of 257 | #33 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
432
+7 (+2%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 358
Student : Teacher
20.1:1
was 18.5:1
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 | 432 | 21.5 | 20.1:1 | 19% (84) |
| 2023-24 | 424 | 21.6 | 19.6:1 | 20% (83) |
| 2022-23 | 443 | 22.1 | 20.1:1 | 14% (63) |
| 2020-21 | 425 | 23 | 18.5:1 | 12% (53) |
| 2017-18 | 413 | 21.9 | 18.9:1 | 15% (63) |
| 2015-16 | 418 | 21 | 19.9:1 | 26% (110) |
| 2010-11 | 358 | 18 | 19.9:1 | 33% (118) |
| 2000-01 | 372 | 21 | 17.7:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 358 | 18 | 19.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sherman Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (413 to 432); teachers down 2% (21.9 to 21.5).
About Sherman Elementary School
Sherman Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Tacoma, Washington, one of the schools in Tacoma School District. Enrolled students number 432 students, in kindergarten through 5.
District-wide, Tacoma School District has 66 schools and 28,900 students.
A majority of students at Sherman Elementary School, 73%, are White. The rest of enrollment is 11% multiracial, 11% Hispanic, and 3% Asian. Among all residents of Pierce County, the White share is about 64%. By the diversity index, Sherman Elementary School comes in at 44%.
At Sherman Elementary School, 21.5 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 20.1:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Washington average 17.3:1. Roughly 19% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. That is 31 points below the 50% average for public schools in Pierce County.
In Washington, Sherman Elementary School is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 70.0% actual against a predicted 67.2%.
Pierce County has about 930,319 residents, and median household income is about $99,564, about 31% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 287 public schools in Pierce County, with a combined enrollment of about 138,462.
The next-closest public school is Mason Middle School, about 0.8 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Local comparison: Sherman Elementary School ranks 2nd of 8 nearby schools, at 70.0% versus a 58.2% average.
Federal data place Sherman Elementary School in the City: Mid-size locale, which means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 425 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 432. There were more students per teacher in 2024-25 (20.1:1) than in 2020-21 (18.5:1).
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Tacoma School District
- Stadium High SchoolHigh · 1,700 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,556 students
- Mount Tahoma High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Dr. Dolores Silas High SchoolHigh · 1,160 students
- Baker Middle SchoolMiddle · 687 students
- Tacoma School of the ArtsHigh · 658 students
Other schools in Tacoma
- Stadium High SchoolHigh · 1,700 students
- Lincoln High SchoolHigh · 1,556 students
- Mount Tahoma High SchoolHigh · 1,410 students
- Dr. Dolores Silas High SchoolHigh · 1,160 students
- Washington High SchoolHigh · 989 students
- Franklin Pierce High SchoolHigh · 977 students
Other Sherman Elementary schools
16 other US public schools in 13 states are named Sherman Elementary. Sherman Elementary School is the 7th largest of the 17.
- Sherman Elementary SchoolMansfield, OH · 613 students
- Sherman Elementary SchoolSherman, IL · 552 students
- Sherman ElementarySan Diego, CA · 535 students
- Sherman ElementaryEau Claire, WI · 502 students
- SHERMAN ELEMENTARYNAMPA, ID · 468 students
Nearby schools
- Mason Middle School0.8 mi · 639
- Truman Middle School0.8 mi · 438
- Washington Elementary School1.0 mi · 383
- Downing Elementary School1.0 mi · 298
- Point Defiance Elementary School1.0 mi · 301
- Skyline Elementary School1.5 mi · 329
Frequently asked questions
About Sherman Elementary SchoolHow large is Sherman Elementary School?
Sherman Elementary School enrolls approximately 432 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Sherman Elementary School serve?
Sherman Elementary School serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sherman Elementary School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Sherman Elementary School is approximately 20.1:1 (22 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sherman Elementary School?
At Sherman Elementary School, the student body is approximately 73% White, 11% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Who oversees Sherman Elementary School?
Sherman Elementary School is overseen by Tacoma School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.