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What's one community event at Sunset Primary more people should show up to?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
548
Elementary
DISTRICT 520 · STATE 380
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNIVERSITY PLACE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 530918001551
Sunset Primary
4523 97TH AVE W, UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA 98466 · (253) 566-5640 · Pierce County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL548 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.0:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
38%
207 students
DISTRICT 40% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 88 | 16% |
| Kindergarten | 85 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 96 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 89 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 93 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 97 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (85) is 12% smaller than its 4th grade class (97).
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
57.9%
WA avg 58.4% . -10.8pp since 2014
Math
61.9%
WA avg 51.2% . -9.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the Smarter Balanced + WCAS, Washington's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 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 11 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 9 points.
Smarter Balanced + WCAS results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 57.9% | 61.9% |
| 2023-24 | 57.3% | 62.7% |
| 2022-23 | 61.2% | 62.2% |
| 2021-22 | 58.7% | 58.9% |
| 2018-19 | 67.3% | 66.7% |
| 2017-18 | 68.4% | 66.7% |
| 2016-17 | 76.0% | 74.3% |
| 2015-16 | 74.7% | 79.8% |
| 2014-15 | 68.7% | 71.0% |
% 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
59.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
54.9%
based on WA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Sunset Primary
Sunset Primary's state test result (59.9% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Primary this school | 548 | 37.8% | 59.9% |
| Horizons Elementary Lacey | 580 | 38.8% | 53.5% |
| University Place Primary UNIVERSITY PLA | 522 | 41.0% | 72.8% |
| Geiger Montessori School Tacoma | 521 | 39.7% | 56.3% |
| Evergreen Primary UNIVERSITY PLACE | 516 | 38.8% | 56.8% |
| Frank Brouillet Elem Puyallup | 541 | 42.3% | 59.5% |
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 Sunset Primary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Washington | In Pierce County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.9% | #258 of 936 | #37 of 142 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.9% | #232 of 1,103 ▼ 12 | #27 of 142 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.9% | #342 of 1,102 ▲ 3 | #49 of 142 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.1pp | #496 of 928 | #72 of 141 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 548 | #178 of 1,268 | #27 of 155 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.9:1 | #788 of 1,085 | #96 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 70.0% | #292 of 1,088 | #75 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 37.8% | #832 of 1,169 | #116 of 148 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +13.0% | #101 of 257 | #12 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
548
+12 (+2%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 617
Student : Teacher
16.9:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 548 | 32.5 | 16.9:1 | 38% (207) |
| 2023-24 | 545 | 30.5 | 17.9:1 | 40% (216) |
| 2022-23 | 546 | 35.9 | 15.2:1 | 39% (212) |
| 2020-21 | 536 | 34 | 15.8:1 | 33% (179) |
| 2017-18 | 485 | 30.9 | 15.7:1 | 37% (178) |
| 2015-16 | 412 | 25 | 16.5:1 | 36% (148) |
| 2010-11 | 415 | 24 | 17.3:1 | 39% (160) |
| 2000-01 | 403 | 23 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
| 1990-91 | 617 | 28 | 22.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sunset Primary.
Since 2017-18: students up 13% (485 to 548); teachers up 5% (30.9 to 32.5).
About Sunset Primary
Sunset Primary is a mid-sized elementary school serving families in UNIVERSITY PLACE, Washington. It has an enrollment of 548 students in pre-K through 4. Elementary schools in Washington average about 380 students, which makes this school 44% above average.
The 8 schools in University Place School District enroll 5,635 students altogether, Sunset Primary among them.
White students account for 46% of enrollment at Sunset Primary, more than any other group. Other students are 21% Hispanic, 18% multiracial, 8% Black, and 7% Asian. By comparison, Pierce County residents are about 64% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Sunset Primary scores 70%.
Its staff includes 32.5 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 16.9 students per teacher. The average for elementary schools in Washington is about 17.3:1. Sunset Primary has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 38%. Across public schools in Pierce County, the average is 50%.
Compared with Washington schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Sunset Primary's results are 5.1 points above predicted: 59.9% against 54.9%.
In the wider Pierce County area, the median household earns about $99,564 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 31% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Across Pierce County, 287 public schools serve about 138,462 students.
Chambers Elementary is about 0.6 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Sunset Primary is 6th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The NCES locale for Sunset Primary is Suburb: Large, which covers schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, Sunset Primary enrolled 536; in 2024-25, 548. The school's ratio increased from 15.8:1 to 16.9:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Sunset Primary. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 University Place School District
- Curtis Senior HighHigh · 1,321 students
- Curtis Junior HighHigh · 904 students
- Narrows View IntermediateMiddle · 692 students
- Drum IntermediateMiddle · 639 students
- University Place PrimaryElementary · 522 students
- Evergreen PrimaryElementary · 516 students
Other schools in UNIVERSITY PLACE
- Curtis Senior HighHigh · 1,321 students
- Curtis Junior HighHigh · 904 students
- Evergreen PrimaryElementary · 516 students
Other Sunset Primary schools
One other US public school is named Sunset Primary. Sunset Primary is the largest of the 2.
- Sunset Primary SchoolWest Linn, OR · 375 students
Nearby schools
- Chambers Elementary0.6 mi · 493
- Curtis Junior High0.8 mi · 904
- Curtis Senior High0.8 mi · 1,321
- Narrows View Intermediate1.1 mi · 692
- Drum Intermediate1.1 mi · 639
- University Place Primary1.4 mi · 522
Frequently asked questions
About Sunset PrimaryHow many students attend Sunset Primary?
Sunset Primary enrolls approximately 548 students in grades PK-04.
Is Sunset Primary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sunset Primary is an elementary school covering grades PK-04.
How many teachers does Sunset Primary have?
Sunset Primary employs 33 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Sunset Primary?
Student demographics at Sunset Primary are roughly 46% White, 21% Hispanic, 8% Black, 7% Asian, 18% Two or more.
Who oversees Sunset Primary?
Sunset Primary is overseen by University Place School District in Pierce County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.