The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Science. The lowest is 51% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on North Star Elementary
North Star Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Graham, a rapidly growing, car-dependent unincorporated community in Pierce County. The school is part of the Bethel School District, a district that has recently faced notable fiscal and operational challenges. A capital bond for a new elementary school and facility upgrades failed to reach the required supermajority in early 2024, and the district implemented staffing reductions for the 2024-25 school year, partly due to the expiration of federal relief funds. These conditions directly affect the context families should consider when looking at North Star.
The school is a regular public elementary school, not a magnet or charter. Its student body is diverse in composition, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The demographic mix includes a predominantly white student population alongside sizable groups of students who identify as Hispanic, two or more races, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian. The share of students from lower-income households is significant, which is an important factor for understanding the school’s resource context and the additional support its student body may require.
On state assessments, North Star Elementary presents a mixed picture that varies considerably by grade level and subject. In English language arts, the school’s results are close to the midpoint of what is typical for a Pierce County elementary school. The school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint among districts in Pierce County, a decent showing that places it in the stronger half of its local peers. However, a closer look at individual grades reveals uneven performance. In math, the school’s proficiency rates decline markedly as students move up in grade: students in third grade post a strong result, while fourth grade shows a drop, and by fifth grade the rate is notably lower. This pattern of declining math proficiency as students get older is something a parent may want to investigate further with the school. A similar but less pronounced pattern is visible in English language arts, where fourth graders perform well above the state average and third and fifth graders hover near even. The only tested grade in science is fifth, where about half of students met the standard. There is only one year of state test data available, so it is not possible to see whether these are stable patterns or a single year’s snapshot.
As an elementary-only school, North Star has no graduation rate to report, and the data did not include chronic absenteeism rates or information on discipline, staffing ratios, or course access. The absence of these civil-rights and school-environment metrics is a gap; families who want a full picture of the school’s daily climate and support systems should ask the school directly for this information.
The community context matters here. Graham is a high-growth area. Its population has expanded rapidly in recent years, driven by new single-family subdivisions, and home values in the school’s ZIP code are high relative to the national median, with a weighted home value that slightly exceeds the state’s benchmark. The housing market is a significant investment for any family moving into the area. At the same time, the local rental market is tight, and the ratio of rent to income is high, making the area a more expensive place to live than many parts of the country. There is no incorporated city government; Graham is governed by Pierce County, and the community lacks a traditional downtown or walkable commercial core. The Bethel School District is the major institutional presence in the area, operating multiple elementary, middle, and high schools across the CDP.
For a family considering North Star, the school’s strongest academic showing is in the early elementary years, with a noticeable dip in upper-grade math. The peer environment reflects a diverse community with a significant share of households facing economic stress. The broader district context includes recent levy successes that restored operational funding, but the failure of the capital bond and the staffing reductions suggest that the district is operating with constrained resources. The surrounding housing market is expensive, and the area’s rapid growth means that school capacity issues, which the failed bond was meant to address, remain unresolved. A parent moving here should expect a school that performs solidly for its county but has clear areas of variability, a community in the middle of a building boom, and a district that has recently had to make difficult cuts.
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