Sunset Primary

Sunset Primary is one of the average-sized elementary-level communitys in UNIVERSITY PLACE, Washington, overseen by University Place School District, with 548 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 4. By comparison, Washington's public schools average about 380 students each, so Sunset Primary sits 44% above that benchmark.

Sunset Primary is one of 8 schools operated by University Place School District, a district that enrolls 5,635 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Sunset Primary shows that 46% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 21% Hispanic, 18% multiracial, 8% Black, 7% Asian. By comparison, Pierce County as a whole is about 64% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.9:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 17.3:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 38% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Pierce County (around 50%), the school's rate is south of typical.

With demographic context factored in, Sunset Primary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 54.9%; this one delivers 59.9%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Pierce County) reports that median household income runs about $99,564, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Sunset Primary is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

Nearest neighbor: Chambers Elementary, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Sunset Primary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 61.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 13%: 485 students in 2018 compared to 548 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share edged up from 15% to 21%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 15.7:1 in 2018 to 16.9:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Sunset Primary community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.