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What's something Shining Mountain Elementary does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
613
Elementary
DISTRICT 409 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BETHEL SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530048001750
Shining Mountain Elementary
21615 38th Ave E, Spanaway, WA 98387 · (253) 800-5200 · Pierce County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL613 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.8:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
403 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 | 94 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 88 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 104 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 119 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 115 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (94) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (93).
Student demographics
79%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
39.7%
WA avg 58.4% . -6.8pp since 2014
Math
33.5%
WA avg 51.2% . -12.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 34 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Washington schools, those numbers are about 58 and 51. Reading and writing scores are down about 7 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 12 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.7% | 33.5% |
| 2023-24 | 45.0% | 38.0% |
| 2022-23 | 41.2% | 32.7% |
| 2021-22 | 41.0% | 36.2% |
| 2018-19 | 51.3% | 42.0% |
| 2017-18 | 49.8% | 42.2% |
| 2016-17 | 47.6% | 39.9% |
| 2015-16 | 43.1% | 39.6% |
| 2014-15 | 46.5% | 46.0% |
% 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
39.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.1%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Shining Mountain Elementary
Shining Mountain Elementary's state test result (39.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shining Mountain Elementary this school | 613 | 65.7% | 39.9% |
| Camas Prairie Elementary Spanaway | 529 | 67.9% | 55.1% |
| Firgrove Elementary Puyallup | 593 | 68.3% | 35.4% |
| Evergreen Elementary Spanaway | 530 | 66.4% | 42.1% |
| Brookdale Elementary Tacoma | 483 | 69.2% | 40.2% |
| Hillside Elementary School JBLM Lewis Main | 567 | 64.4% | 38.1% |
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 Shining Mountain Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.9% | #632 of 936 | #101 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 33.5% | #813 of 1,103 ▼ 136 | #113 of 142 ▼ 16 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #755 of 1,102 ▼ 154 | #108 of 142 ▼ 23 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.0pp | #276 of 928 | #47 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 613 | #90 of 1,268 | #16 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #656 of 1,085 | #78 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 79.2% | #36 of 1,088 | #16 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.7% | #341 of 1,169 | #43 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.6% | #235 of 778 | #23 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
613
-102 (-14%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 658
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
was 15.5:1
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 | 613 | 37.7 | 16.3:1 | 66% (403) |
| 2023-24 | 626 | 38.3 | 16.3:1 | 61% (381) |
| 2022-23 | 608 | 38.8 | 15.7:1 | 61% (369) |
| 2020-21 | 715 | 46 | 15.5:1 | 56% (401) |
| 2017-18 | 792 | 44.8 | 17.7:1 | 55% (438) |
| 2015-16 | 679 | 40 | 17.0:1 | 57% (384) |
| 2010-11 | 475 | 30 | 15.8:1 | 31% (149) |
| 2000-01 | 674 | 32 | 21.1:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 658 | 28 | 23.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shining Mountain Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (792 to 613); teachers down 16% (44.8 to 37.7).
About Shining Mountain Elementary
Shining Mountain Elementary is a large elementary school located in Spanaway, Washington. The school reports 613 students in kindergarten through 5. The school's enrollment is 61% bigger than the 380 average for elementary schools in Washington.
Bethel School District is responsible for 39 schools, Shining Mountain Elementary included, with 21,732 students in all.
The most common group at Shining Mountain Elementary is White students, at 28%. After that, the student body is 25% Hispanic, 19% multiracial, 12% Pacific Islander, and 11% Black. Among all residents of Pierce County, the White share is about 64%. The school's diversity index is 79%, meaning two students picked at random have a 79% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Staffing totals 37.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 16.3:1. On average, elementary schools in Washington have 17.3:1, compared with 16.3:1 here. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Shining Mountain Elementary is 66%. That rate is above the 50% average among public schools in Pierce County.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 36.1% at Shining Mountain Elementary; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 39.9%.
County data help place the school in context: in Pierce County, the median household income is $99,564, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 31% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 6%. Pierce County is home to 287 public schools and about 138,462 public school students.
Of nearby public schools, Bethel Middle School is the closest, at about 0.1 miles. Shining Mountain Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among 8 nearby schools that report test results, Shining Mountain Elementary ranks 6th on proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Shining Mountain Elementary as Suburb: Large.
Over 4 years, Shining Mountain Elementary's enrollment declined 14%, to 613.
If you have questions about school safety, transportation, and start times at Shining Mountain Elementary, you can post them here. 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 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 Spanaway
- Spanaway Lake High SchoolHigh · 1,787 students
- Bethel High SchoolHigh · 1,688 students
- Liberty Middle SchoolMiddle · 857 students
- Cedarcrest Middle SchoolMiddle · 765 students
- Bethel Middle SchoolMiddle · 661 students
- Elk Plain School of ChoiceElementary · 574 students
Nearby schools
- Bethel Middle School0.1 mi · 661
- Bethel High School0.4 mi · 1,688
- Elk Plain School of Choice1.0 mi · 574
- Centennial Elementary2.0 mi · 540
- Pioneer Valley Elementary2.3 mi · 524
- Liberty Middle School2.3 mi · 857
Frequently asked questions
About Shining Mountain ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Shining Mountain Elementary?
Shining Mountain Elementary enrolls approximately 613 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Shining Mountain Elementary serve?
Shining Mountain Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Shining Mountain Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Shining Mountain Elementary is approximately 16.3:1 (38 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Shining Mountain Elementary?
Shining Mountain Elementary reports a student body of 28% White, 25% Hispanic, 11% Black, 5% Asian, 19% Two or more.
What district is Shining Mountain Elementary in?
Shining Mountain Elementary is part of Bethel School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.