Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Pierce High School
Franklin Pierce High School is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Tacoma, part of the Franklin Pierce School District. It is a comprehensive high school, meaning it serves a wide cross-section of students from the surrounding neighborhoods in southeast Tacoma.
The student body is diverse and economically mixed. Just over half of students identify as Hispanic, with substantial shares of white students, students of two or more races, Asian students, Black students, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a standard indicator that the school serves many families with lower household incomes. Special education and English learner counts were not available in the data, so a family with a child in those programs would want to ask the school directly about services and supports.
Academically, the school has only one year of state testing data, from the 2024-25 school year, so there is no trend to examine. In English language arts, about half of students met the state proficiency standard. In science, a bit more than two in five met the standard. In math, the share was markedly lower, roughly one in six students proficient. This is a soft spot that a family may want to discuss with the school—whether there are targeted math interventions, tutoring, or course pathways that address this gap. The school does not have a reported graduation rate in this data, which is an unusual gap for a regular high school; it is possible the rate was not reported to the source, so a parent should ask the school for its most recent graduation figures directly.
Franklin Pierce High School sits within Tacoma, a mid-sized port city that blends working waterfront industry with distinct neighborhoods and a growing arts and dining scene. The city is the county seat of Pierce County. Key economic sectors include healthcare, retail, education, and transportation tied to the Port of Tacoma and nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Walkability varies widely by neighborhood; many parts of the city are car-dependent, though downtown and districts like Proctor and Stadium offer more foot traffic. Housing values in the school’s zip code area are near the midpoint for the metro region, with rents that absorb a typical share of income. Tacoma has been growing steadily, with a modest population increase since the last census and a rise in housing development spurred by city initiatives.
For the school’s performance relative to other districts in Pierce County, the comparison data was not available, so it is not possible to say how Franklin Pierce High School stacks up against neighboring high schools on proficiency or graduation. The school is part of the Franklin Pierce School District, and a search for recent district-level changes or initiatives turned up little of lasting impact, so there is no major policy shift or program launch to note.
In sum, Franklin Pierce High School offers a comprehensive high school experience in a diverse, economically mixed setting. The academic data points to a school where math achievement is a challenge, while ELA and science scores are moderate. The lack of a reported graduation rate and the single year of test data mean a family should seek more detail from the school to understand trends and outcomes fully. The surrounding community is a large, growing city with a variety of neighborhoods, employment sectors, and amenities, though housing costs and transportation patterns vary by area. This school may fit families who value a diverse, regular public high school in a city context and who are prepared to engage with the school on areas where academic performance is weaker.
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