Whittier Elementary School

Whittier Elementary School operates as an intimate elementary school in Tacoma, Washington, overseen by Tacoma School District. Current enrollment sits at 305 students spanning grades pre-K through 3.

Tacoma School District comprises 66 schools with combined enrollment of 28,900 students; Whittier Elementary School is among them.

On demographics, Whittier Elementary School reports that 34% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups; the rest comes out to 23% multiracial, 17% Hispanic, 16% Black, 6% Asian. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 64%.

In terms of school funding signals, Whittier Elementary School lists 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. Around 56% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

After controlling for student poverty, Whittier Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 42.8%, the actual is 50.5%, a residual of +7.6 points.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Pierce County indicate median household earnings sit near $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. Whittier Elementary School is one of 287 public schools in Pierce County (combined enrollment of about 138,462 students).

Wainwright Intermediate School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Whittier Elementary School at 3rd of 7; the average score across the group is 45.3%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 24%: 401 students in 2018 compared to 305 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 42% to 34% across the same window.

Inside the community feed, members of the Whittier Elementary School community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.