The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on General William H. Harrison Preparatory School
General William H. Harrison Preparatory School is a regular public school serving grades six through twelve in Lakewood, part of the Clover Park School District. The school operates as a single campus in a city whose economy and identity are profoundly shaped by Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the dominant employer in the region. Lakewood is a suburban bedroom community with a mix of residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors along South Tacoma Way and Pacific Highway, and an International District reflecting Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Latino influences. The city does not have a traditional downtown; commercial and civic life is distributed across nodes like Lakewood Towne Center and the Fort Steilacoom area. Housing values in the zip code are below the state benchmark, and the market leans toward renting relative to owning on a monthly cost basis, which is consistent with a community that has a substantial share of military and service-sector households.
The school serves a diverse student body. The largest demographic group is Hispanic students, followed by white students, and then students who identify as two or more races. The remainder of the enrollment is Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on the share of students with an individualized education program or who are English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support services.
State testing results from a single recent year are available. In English language arts, the share of students meeting proficiency rises modestly from sixth grade through eighth grade, landing just over half of eighth graders proficient. In math, proficiency rates are lower across those grades, with eighth grade showing the weakest performance of the three. The science assessment for eighth graders shows fewer than half of students proficient. When the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is compared with other schools in Pierce County, it falls below the midpoint of the county’s districts. Because only one year of data is available through this source, there is no trend to examine; parents may want to ask school leadership how current results compare with prior years and what strategies are in place.
The school serves grades six through twelve, which means it includes the high school years, but the graduation rate was not available in the data. A parent may want to request this figure directly from the school or district. No information on course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance was captured in this data set, so a family considering Harrison Preparatory should inquire about the availability of advanced coursework, counseling support, and the overall school climate. Programs such as career and technical education or Advanced Placement were also absent from the data, so those are questions to raise on a school tour or call.
Lakewood is a community positioned for growth along the Interstate 5 corridor, with developer incentives that include no local business and occupation tax, a multifamily tax exemption, and three Opportunity Zones. The city has a substantial amount of rental housing and a multifamily vacancy rate that suggests a moderately tight rental market. For families moving to the area, the housing context is one where owning is notably more expensive than renting on a monthly basis. The Clover Park School District is a major public employer in the city, along with the military base, Western State Hospital, and two higher education institutions.
The district brief did not surface any recent major changes such as bond measures, boundary adjustments, or curriculum shifts that would be of immediate note to a parent. The district’s profile as a military-connected community may mean more student turnover than in districts without a major base. Harrison Preparatory is a school where a parent will want to dig into the specific academic supports, the high school graduation outlook, and the programs available to older students, as the available data raises questions around math proficiency and lacks detail on the upper-grade experience.
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